365 Days with God - Day 158: Silly Sticks

I'm giving myself a challenge. Read the Bible each day for a whole year, following the ESV Study Guide 1-year plan. Each day, I will post whatever God has revealed to me in His Word, and how it is changing me. A friend of mine once said that nothing has changed her life as much as reading the bible each day - and I'm excited for how this will change me. Join me on an adventure into the heart of God - and day by day, we can learn more about who He is and what that means to us!

- Andy Catts

Day 158, May 27, 2014

Readings: Proverbs 3:21-35, Deuteronomy 8:1-20, Deuteronomy 9:1-5, Hosea 4, Hosea 5, Titus 1:5-16

My people inquire of a piece of wood,
and their walking staff gives them oracles.
For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray,
and they have left their God to play the whore. (Hosea 4:12)

Every time I read something like this, about the pagan gods that the Israelites would worship (such as the Asherah pole mentioned here) I cant help but think about how silly it is. When you put it like this - trusting a chunk of wood to inform your future? Crazy!

But...we do the same thing. Except now, it's a piece of paper from a piece of wood. We trust in horoscopes, we trust in paychecks, we trust in job offers and stocks and raises and all manner of things, conveyed to us on...wood.

Yes, even in 2014, we still inquire of a piece of wood.

For our future, for decisions, for our perception of how our life is, we still rely on wood, in many different forms to be our oracle. And while we may not think of it this way, it is true. I have often based my decisions on the outcome written on a piece of paper. Instead of trusting in God to provide the answers, the meaning, the good things in life, I rely on wood. And that need to change.

Unlike relying on Asherah poles, however, we have the advantage with our paper. It can help us, it can inform us, but it should not be our ultimate. decision maker. If God says to go contrary to that paper - contrary we should go. He is the decision maker, He is our hope, He will provide. We don't need to fear when God is with us.

So the next time a big decision lands on your doorstep...are you trusting wood? Or are you trusting God?