“For they went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, and whom he had not given unto them:” (Deut. 29:26)
There is only one reason that comes to mind why anyone would stop serving the god they have chosen to serve and begin to serve a different one, they are not receiving what they desired from that god.
One of the main reasons that the love of money is the root of all evil is because that god, when enough of it is accumulated, can give you almost anything that you desire. The children of Israel began to make their children pass through the fire, poured our drink offerings to strange gods because what the Almighty was offering them, what they were receiving from His hands by His mercies, was not fulfilling all their wants.
Contemplate here why Rachel stole the images from her father Laban’s house, and what Jacob did, which we are not told, when he found them in his tent.
“Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” (Matt. 4:10)
Pestilence, famine, the sword, when the children of Abraham left off serving the Most High and began to seek elsewhere for self-satisfaction, swift punishment at His hands ensued.
The Living God does not change, but He has, as best as can be described, altered the rules for those who come to His Son for the salvation of their soul. Serve other gods, and swift retribution does not occur. In fact my friends, for most who profess to serve Him, when they, to use these words, fall away and stop placing Him first for a season, they believe the greatest punishment is a loss of fellowship with Him.
In other words, the punishment is that they just feel bad about themselves.
And so, they say words of repentance, believing those words have come from their heart, and start to feel better about themselves. Until the next god shows up, and the cycle continues. The Romanist tell those that believe their lies to repeat certain magic words several times, count a few beads, and all will be forgiven. Simple as that.
If I was to tell you of all the things I have repented of, that I no longer do by the grace of God, you would praise His name for His mercies upon me. Then if I informed you of actions I have performed even recently, thoughts I entertain at times, you would doubt my salvation.
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1st John 1:8)
All who are hid in Christ still serve, by our own design and free will, strange gods, and we will continue to until the day we are glorified, we cannot help but to do so because of our flesh that serves the law of sin.
“As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” (Romans 8:36)
Sin has no more dominion over the mind that serves Christ, we are today the righteousness of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. There are millions, if not more, little gods that we can serve every day, some we succumb to for a short season. This is a truth and is accepted as such by all who have entered into the battle.
I personally believe that if one has truly been born again begins on purpose to defile the name of the Living God openly because of a circumstance that He has allowed to enter into their life that they will not accept as His will, for His glory, that the Lord will kill them, take them home, sit them down and have a talk with them.
You may say that Christ is first in your life, but are you sure? If you begin to elevate a strange god in your life my friends, He will let you know in some way or fashion that there is only one true God.
