God's Glory Church

“I am the Lord, this is My Name, and I will not give My glory to another, nor My praise to the gods.” — Isaiah 42:8

Too late, Tom heard an ominous click under his soldier’s boot. Instinctively, he jumped aside. But the deadly device, hidden in the ground, did not detonate. Later, a team of sappers discovered forty kilograms of explosives at this place. Tom wore his shoes until they fell apart. “My lucky boots,” he called them.

Maybe Tom was just doing it in memory of that happy incident. But often people attribute supernatural properties to ordinary objects, call them “lucky” or even attach a spiritual label to them – “blessed”. This is a dangerous occupation that has its own consequences.

The Israelis learned this lesson through their own bitter experience. The Philistine army had just defeated them in battle. And so it occurred to someone from the Jews to take the “ark of the Lord’s covenant” into battle (1 Sam. 4:3). Everyone received this idea with enthusiasm, because the ark was a sacred object (vv. 6-9).

But they were wrong. The ark alone could not help them. Relying on an object, and not on the one true God, the Israelites suffered an even worse defeat, and the enemy, moreover, captured the sanctuary (vv. 10-11).

You can keep relics that encourage you to pray and thank God for His goodness. There is nothing wrong with that. But let us remember that they are not blessed. The source of blessings is in God and only in Him.

What is your faith in God? When a crisis occurs, what do you hope for?

Loving Heavenly Father, forgive me for sometimes being tempted to rely on something other than You.

Author: Tim Gustavson