1And God spoke all these words: 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before me. (Exodus 20:1 – 3, New international Version)
10I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:10 – 11, New International Version)
Theme: Discipleship
Context:
We have spent the last 4 weeks absorbing the importance of discipleship and discussing how Bible study and prayer enable our discipleship walk with Jesus. This week, we will dig deeper into the theme of discipleship by extracting some lessons from God’s shepherding of the Children of Israel. Some of the key challenges we currently face as disciples of Jesus are like discipleship challenges the Children of Israel faced. As we seek to put what we are learning about discipleship into practice, we can benefit from observing the experiences of the Children of Israel.
A good place to start is where God started when He issued the Ten Commandments, which would serve as a discipleship guide to the Children of Israel. God’s declaration begins with an “I am” statement that spoke of identity and warned against idolatry. As was the case for the Children of Israel, the pervasiveness of idolatry is a major problem for disciples of Jesus today. God knows that we are prone to conveniently construct gods of our own making.
Everyone follows something/someone. Our idol may not be a golden calf but it could be money, country, religious leaders, family members, politicians, celebrities, and more. As we consider the application of discipleship, clarity about who we are following is foundational, and the disciplined application of Bible study and prayer is fundamental. Our discipleship journey will go nowhere if we are not prayerfully following the Jesus of Scripture.
Bible Passages:
Our Old Testament Scripture passage reflects the opening verses of the Ten Commandments, and the New Testament passage captures the Apostle Paul’s desire to know Jesus. Please prayerfully read the passages and reflect on how important it is for disciples of Jesus to be confident they are really following Him and not an idol.
Questions:
- Why is idolatry totally inconsistent with being a disciple of Jesus?
- How are Bible study and prayer important safeguards against idolatry?
Sharing your thoughts could be a big help to someone else. Please leave a comment on the blog.
March 18, 2024 at 6:05 am
As a disciple, Jesus is to be at the center. Our praise, worship and honor should be to Him. Idolatry is placing things, people, and activities ahead of God. It is an illustration of a lack of faith and disobedience. The Bible has numerous examples of idol worship and God’s strong abhorrence to it.
March 18, 2024 at 7:07 am
Idolatry can be in many forms. Being a disciple of Jesus means only focusing on Him as the true God and Savior. A disciple cannot serve two masters at a time, saying one thing but doing a totally inconsistent act is absolutely an idolatry and not glorifying to God.
One form of Idolatry is also when most of the time your heart and mind is mostly filled with thoughts/ concerns about a certain person or thing instead of having the Lord as the focal point of your life. A true disciple of Jesus can be busy or occupied with work all day, but at the end of the day or in that whole day of every single day of your life, the thought of having a God who is with you , guiding you and the one controlling your life must be there consistently and not fading. You cannot be a disciple of God if at any point in your life, you cannot be humble and grateful to God who provides and loves you unconditionally.
March 18, 2024 at 7:16 am
As disciples of Jesus, we are to put Him first/foremost/center/above every aspect of our being. If we elevate anything or anyone to the point of compromising Jesus’ position being in the forefront our life, then we are not being the disciple we are to be.
Reading, applying, and embedding God’s Word in our actions and speech, will guard us against stepping out of our discipleship boundary.
March 18, 2024 at 7:20 am
In Exodus 20:3 it explicitly says “ You shall have no other Gods before me “. The Lord did not want us to give our hearts, souls, and minds to anything ahead of Him. He warns us that wealth, friends, and family could distract from focusing on Him.
Counterfeit money experts don’t study fake money. They study the real thing and know it so well that when they see an imitation they can tell …Hence why we should immerse ourselves consistently in studying God’s word.
March 18, 2024 at 8:09 am
Idolatry is inconsistent with discipleship because as Matthew 6:24 says, “No man can serve two masters.” Having an idol means that your heart is submitting to something other than God. You cannot be a disciple without wholly submitting to God.
Bible study and prayer help us by reorienting our thoughts and our hearts to where they’re supposed to be, rather than the idols that distract us.
March 18, 2024 at 8:57 am
A disciple is aligned to one teacher and his teaching. A disciple of Christ operates under the premise that God and God alone is enough and their only God. Idolatry says God isn’t sufficient so I need to seek guidance, protection, provision, etc. from someone or something else.
Through Prayer and Bible Study the Holy Spirit convicts and reminds us (our flesh) that we shouldn’t stray from God.