January 4, 2012 (Genesis 9-11; Luke 4)
From the Life Journal of Adam Proux:
Scripture: “Then they said, “come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world.” Genesis 11:4 NLT
Observation: The focus of the people that populated the earth after the flood was quickly turned from God to themselves. Their desire was to build a city with a tower that reached into the sky to impress people of their ability. God was not the center of their affection and therefore corruption entered into the hearts on mankind once again. God’s desire was for people to ‘be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth’ but this was sure not to happen if they stayed in Babel.
Application: When the center of our affection turns away from God we get into trouble. We start building big impressive buildings that feed the emotional needs of people, while being blinded by our own desires we fail to see their spiritual condition. We are easily deceived into believing a church is successful based on it’s size, or the number of activities going on, rather than the holiness that is produced by it’s people. God desires His people to be looking for ways to do for others, instead of looking for ways to build bigger and better for ourselves. When a building (or tower) becomes the focus of our worship, we have erected an idol and began worshipping the created, rather than the Creator.
Prayer: Dear Lord, I praise and worship You for who You are. You are the awesome God of heaven and above You there is no other. Help me Lord, keep You at the center of my worship. Open my eyes to any idols I have errected in Your name. Destroy them and take Your rightful place in my life. Use me in the way You see fit. Cause my life to bring You glory, in Jesus name, Amen!