Have Faith In God (Alone) - Continued

At this time Aramean raiders had invaded the land of Israel, and among their captives was a young girl who had been given to Naaman’s wife as a maid. [2 Kings 5.2]

To understand the significance of this article, one must read and understand the significance of the article Have Faith In God (Alone) from a few days ago. In that article, it was pointed out that King Ben-hadad of Aram, who, through a previous and costly alliance with Judah (King Asa), had promised to protect Judah from attack by Israel. Ben-hadad was eventually overcome by Israel however and, as a result, he forsook his alliance with Judah when Ahab of Israel spared his life. Again, in Have Faith In God (Alone) it was pointed out that this betrayal is exactly what debt, insurance, medicine and technology (idols) intend to do to us today.

In further support of the argument in Have Faith In God (Alone) that debt, insurance, medicine and technology are idols not to be trusted, here in the One Year Chronological Bible reading today, Ahab's alliance with Ben-hadad proves to have been a trap as Israel is now captive to Ben-hadad (Aram).

God has known all along that idols are not only unreliable, but deceptively and calculatedly focused on taking captive those who trust in them. Debt, insurance, medicine and technology, all with the promise of benefits, eventually position themselves as slave masters demanding endless payments for their "services."

Like Ben-hadad, debt, insurance, medicine and technology promise benefits only to reveal their masked intentions once alliances are made. The proof of this is found in the staggering profits raked in through relentless interest, increasing premiums, soaring medical costs, and mindlessly high price tags on the latest-and-greatest gadgetry while the beneficiaries of their "services" increasingly struggle to keep up hopelessly succumbing to the well-groomed lies, "You need us, you want us, you must have us."

In plain words, the identifying mark of an idol is that it costs something. In contrast, God provides every blessing through Jesus Christ freely.

Every curse found in Deuteronomy 28.15-68 and remedied today by debt, insurance, medicine and technology was once-and-for-all dealt with by Jesus Christ on the Cross:

But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” [Galatians 3.13]

Debt, insurance, medicine and technology are costly idols of choice for all who fully reject God. Debt, insurance, medicine and technology are idols of deception for unwitting followers of God convinced they are 'given by God' even though there is nothing "free" from any one of them.

God's demand for undivided faith has never changed:

You must not have any other god but me. [Exodus 20.3]

It is time for genuine Christians to break free from the costly yoke of bondage to debt, insurance, medicine and technology. It will require Jesus-level faith and humility. It will clearly distinguish those who genuinely believe from those who do not. Religion will fight it as much as God-haters. But faith will eventually prevail. In the meantime, true Christians will suffer from forsaking and divorcing their idols - some will even die - but their unified testimony of faith in God alone (faith in Jesus Christ) will ultimately usher in regular and undeniable manifestations of God's glory and power only previously seen in the New Testament. And, just as religion and the world crucified Jesus for going about doing good, healing the sick and walking in the miraculous, so they will decry and retaliate against those who categorically reject the popular idols of this age; those who by rejecting debt, insurance, medicine and technology inadvertently expose the idolatry of all who embrace them.

I speak today as one captive to debt, insurance, medicine and technology just as the young Israelite girl in the opening passage above was captive to profit-seeking King Ben-hadad. My words are filled with hope however as were hers: the God of Israel is Healer, Provider, Strength, Protection, Peace, and more... everything anyone could ever need. Anyone or anything else promising to meet these needs is merely an unreliable and deceptive profiteer.

Father, forgive me for my divided loyalties. Forgive me for adulterous relationships with debt, insurance, medicine and technology. Forgive me for not trusting in You alone (regardless how popular it is to say You provided debt, insurance, medicine and technology). Help me to methodically and purposefully divorce every idol in my life and have the undeniable testimony of pure undivided faith in You - in Jesus Christ - even if it ultimately costs me everything! As Christ in me is my Strength, may I be prepared for the onslaught of ridicule and ire from those who refuse to see the truth of Your Word and therefore refuse to divorce the idols in their own lives. So be it. So be it. And, so be it.