Friday, January 15, 2010

No Mixture

So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD.” Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Exodus 32:5-6

In Exodus 32, Moses had been with God for 40 days up on the mountain. Growing impatient with the delay, the people speculated that Moses was not going to come back to them. They then went to Aaron and demanded that he make them idols to worship. The result was a molded, gold calf.

A proclamation was then made: "This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt" (32:4). Here was Aaron, the assistant pastor to Moses and himself a prophet of God, being a party to the idolatry of the Israelites. Then, in the next verse, Aaron incredulously built an altar in front of the gold calf and said, "Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD" (32:5). He put the worship of idols and the worship of Jehovah God together. The next morning, the people rose early to give their offerings at the altar, after which they ate, drank and indulged in wild orgies.

God hates mixture. He instructed Israel: "You shall not let your livestock breed with another kind. You shall not sow your field with mixed seed. Nor shall a garment of mixed linen and wool come upon you" (Lev. 19:19).

We see this also in the New Testament. Don’t put old wine into a new wineskin. Believers should not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. Light has no fellowship with darkness.

Is there mixture within you? While you profess your worship toward God, are there also idols you entertain in your life? An idol could be anything that takes the place of God. Your career could become an "idol." A person you love and admire could become an "idol." An ambition could become an "idol." Money could become an "idol."

Jesus says, "You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve" (Matt. 4:10). Like an old-time preacher once said, "If God is not the president of your life, He doesn’t want to be the resident in your life." When there is mixture, there will be lukewarmness in you that God literally cannot stomach (Rev. 3:16).

Decide today never to allow mixture in your love and devotion for God.

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