Daily Devotional for Tuesday, October 25 

No Idolators!

Cancer claims the lives of many people each year. Despite advances in medicine, these diseases still claim many lives. One method, however, remains a standard for treatment of most cancers and that is to remove the cancerous cells and any mass from one’s body. The cancer must be cut out. The reason for this is simple. Unless the cancer is removed, it will keep growing and eventually kill the whole body. 

The devotional narrative is very graphic. In Israel, idolaters were to be taken from the camp and stoned. Idolatry was a serious matter because allowing it to grow unchecked in the congregation would result in great harm to the body of believers. While we are no longer required to stone idolaters, idolatry remains a serious affair. It harms us individually and left unchecked it will eventually kill a body of believers. It is vital that we remove idols from among us. 

Since change only happens one person at a time, the place for us to each begin this process of idol removal is with ourselves. Let us get rid of our own plank before we start pulling at our friend’s speck. “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but perceives not the beam that is in thine own eye” (Luke 6:41). Before we start throwing stones, we ought to clean ourselves up.

JUST A THOUGHT: We do not phase out the idols in our lives and expect success; we have to act decisively and quickly. If we let them linger, that is just what they do—linger. 

Wally Fry