Advent Day5 - Hiding the Golden Calf

Joshua 24

 This may seem like a strange passage to be thinking about during Advent but the story is about worship and that is at the heart of this Season.

At God's request Joshua gathered Israel together to reaffirm the central purpose of their freedom. They were no longer slaves and their lands were in the process of being restored. He asked them " Will you worship God?"
                         " Yes we will worship the Lord"
Again and again Joshua asked and they replied "Yes we will worship the Lord"
And then Joshua said " if you will worship Him then get rid of all the foreign gods you have in your possession!"

You know they had a stash!
But then so do I.
I have a lot of "golden calves" that distract me from my love and worship of God. This time of year seems to bring them out more than normal. I get drawn away by trying to make everything perfect, over spending, over eating and in general forgetting the reason why I am celebrating.

So like Israel before Joshua I will renew my commitment to worship the Lord as I place my idols in the fire of repentance.