Self or God?

“They exchanged their Glory for an image of a bull, which eats grass. They forgot the God who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt, miracles in the land of Ham and awesome deeds by the Red Sea” (Psalm 106:20-22).

I read these verses recently and that first sentence sort of jumped off the page. I have read many times about the Israelites and their wayward ways in turning to idol worship, but the word “exchanged” got my attention. The people had exchanged their glorious God for a golden calf! I thought how absurd! That doesn’t come close to an even exchange.  Even after experiencing the many miracles they’d witnessed in their escape from Egypt they chose a statue of a bull! How ridiculous!

I have to ask myself if I have done the same. Oh, no, I don’t have any statues I’ve chosen in place of my glorious God, but I do make exchanges sometimes.  I exchange prayer time for social media or Bible reading for the newspaper.  I exchange the promises of God for worry. I choose myself over God. Sometimes I’m just downright selfish.

It’s a constant battle, isn’t it? The idol of self wants to rule. Selfishness leads to sin. The Apostle Paul fought this battle. He says in Romans 7:21 “When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.” He goes on to exclaim “what a wretched man I am!” We would all be wretched if we didn’t have Jesus. Paul writes extensively about our struggle with sin and our spiritual life in the Spirit. I need to read it often and heed the warnings. The Apostle also reminds us that these Old Testament events were written as warning for us as well.

“These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come” (1 Corinthians 10:11).

So, when I read about God’s people bowing down to a golden calf I must look inward and ask , “Is self more important than God?”

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others” (Philippians 2:3-4).