Exodus 32:4
And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”
How corrupt and depraved is the heart of man? God has shown His awesome power to the children of Israel. He sent the plagues on the land of Egypt, He parted the Red Sea and brought the Israelites to Mount Sinai, and they still turned from God.
In their turning from God, they denied His power, His sovereignty, His holiness, and His providence, and constructed an idol made of gold. The depravity of the heart even denies its stupidity in that human hands are what created the golden calf.
Though we laugh, we do the same thing—but far worse. We may not have lifted a golden calf, but we have lifted ourselves. We have denied the Lord. We shake our hands at the Lord, determined that we can do all things in our own will, in our own way, based upon our own strength. We do not ponder who God is and instead construct things that seem powerful in the human mind, thus denying the Lord. We have lost sight of who God is and fashioned Him from our own minds how we want to see Him. In our arrogance, we have replaced the golden idols with ourselves. We grandstand and declare ourselves good and righteous, denying the holiness and perfection of who God is.
We intellectualize who God is rather than humbly walking before Him. Let us turn and repent; let us kneel before the Lord our God, our Maker. For, “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever.”
Micah 6:8, Psalm 95:6, Psalm 103:8–9
Father, You are holy. You are so gracious, and You have given us Your Word; You have given us the Holy Spirit, You have given us Your Son, and yet we deny You. We are caught up in the sensationalized and minimize the beauty of Your common grace. Forgive us. Father, please grant me a mindfulness of Your love, grace, and holiness, that I may worship You and serve You with all of my heart. In Jesus’ name. Amen