GOD OR A CALF?
- Olufunmilayo Adekusibe
- 13 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Today’s Readings:
Exodus 32:15-24,30-34
Psalm 106:19-23
Matthew 13:31-35
“I believe in One God” is the opening line of the Creed, which we profess every Sunday at the service. We also say it as part of the prayers of the Rosary. What does it really mean? It is a personal declaration of faith in the only Supreme Being who exists, having neither a beginning nor an end. We accept Him as our origin and destination. We pay Him our devotion and worship and no other. We depend on Him for our life and sustenance and on nothing else. Belief in God excludes every other deity or pseudo-deity to which we may be tempted to offer worship. Most Catholics accept monotheism as a theory. But its practical application is an entirely different school of fish.
What do people believe in on a practical basis?
We believe in the things we can comprehend with our five senses: what we can see, touch, smell, taste and hear. We idolise persons, places and things. The people we are drawn to idolise include celebrities, your significant other, persons in political authority and sometimes religious personalities. We are drawn to places that we believe hold the key to our cravings for pleasure, success and fulfilment, such places as shopping malls, embassies (for foreign visas), prayer grounds, cinemas and theatres, political rallies and so on. We idolise things that are the sources or objects of our affection, such as a job (or career), money, power (authority), our phones (and their content), clothes, physical assets and even ourselves. These things can become our golden calves.
How do I know that I have started worshipping a false god?
It is an act of injustice to worship a false god. When you spend your time, resources and most of your waking moments obsessing over any or all of these things, they have become your gods. The Supreme Being admonishes us to worship no other gods but Him because He made everything, and it is pure foolishness to love the creature more than the Creator. It is blindness to expect a creature to give you something that only the Creator has power to give. It is madness to expect lasting happiness from creatures when our hearts remain restless until they rest in God.
What practical steps can I take to acknowledge God today?
Recite the Nicene Creed and listen to the words closely.
Begin your day in prayer, kneel and acknowledge your Creator.
Do everything for the love of God and never be carried away by the love of anyone or anything.
Search the Scriptures to rediscover who God is (Read Genesis 1 and 2, John 1, Psalm 1 for a start).
Put things in proper perspective: God is God, created things are creatures.
Show up for what is important. What you show up for indicates what is important to you.
You will be consumed by whatever you spend the most time on. Do not let the love of created things consume you.
There is a punishment for idolatry, which is the worship of a false god (“It is the person who has sinned against me that I shall blot out from my book...I shall punish them for their sin” Exodus 32:33,34).
JUDE-MARY OWOH
To surrender your life to Christ, say this prayer aloud. “Father, I acknowledge my sin against You. I repent and ask for forgiveness, in the name of Jesus. I surrender to the Lordship of Jesus. By the power of Your Holy Spirit, take control of my heart and lead me in Your path of righteousness. Thank you, Lord.”
If you said the prayer, Congratulations! You are welcome to the body of Christ. Prayerfully seek out a living church and meet the resident reverend, pastor, or priest.
Prayer:
Eternal Father, there is no other god in heaven and on earth besides You. I was hoping you could open my eyes to the things that I have given power over my life. Take centre stage in my life and help me to put things in their proper place. Amen.
Eternal Father, I surrender the golden calves I have erected against You. Set me free from the worship of persons, place and things and give me deep and undying devotion for You. Amen.
Comments