Grace and peace be unto you.
The story is told that the Philistines captured the ark of God and brought it to Ashdod. Then they brought it to the house of Dagon and set it beside Dagon. Dagon was one of their chief deities. Surprisingly, when the people of Ashdod rose early the next morning, they saw Dagon fallen on its face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord (1 Samuel 5:1-3).
God made his distaste for idols explicitly clear when he said, “I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols” (Isaiah 42:8). Therefore, it was disrespectful for the Philistines to put God’s ark beside Dagon. No doubt, God made his supremacy known by placing it on the ground before him.
When we accept Christ as Lord, the Holy Spirit comes and lives in our heart, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16). God refuses to be placed on the same level as our idols. And so, he expects us to destroy or give them to him. Idols could be images, possession, power, or beauty. He will not remove them unless we give them to him. Furthermore, he desires that we put measures in place to worship him only.
God could have destroyed Dagon and its house but he chose to do otherwise. Similarly, he will not destroy us with our idols. Instead, he withholds or removes some of our blessings (Jeremiah 5:25). You may have noticed challenges in certain areas of your life, for example, finances or relationships. Perhaps your idols are inhibiting God’s blessings. If so, he is asking you to remove them. When you obey, you will experience an overflow of his blessings.
Heavenly Father, thank you for your grace and mercy, help us to worship you only. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Born for a Purpose 