Now where are your gods?

"He will say: ' Now where are their gods, the rock they took refuge in, the gods who ate the fat of thier sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offerings? Let them rise up to help you! Let them give you shelter! See now that I myself am He! There is no god besides me" (Deuteronomy 32:37-39).

When I read this passage, I thought of how sin works in my life. I thought of anything I worship apart from God, which is sin. Once I worship this idol, for any period of time, I slowly fall into darkness. For sin brings death. Then I turn my eyes to the only One who can save me, and I hear His loving words of truth flow over me: "Now where are your gods, the rock you took refuge in, the gods who ate the fat of your sacrifices...Let them rise up to help you! Let them give you shelter! O Clay my son, see now that I myself am He! There is no god besides me." Then I cry back, "O God, now I see. Those things I took refuge in took from me, yet gave nothing back. There was simply an empty hole of death in their arms. In fact, they were incapable of giving life for there is no true refuge but You. They looked good but their heart was black! Let me not be deceived by their cunning lies. Let me not find refuge in them; their friendship ends in disloyalty!"

All My Hope is in Christ, A Confession

If I am saved by any other means apart from grace, then I cannot be eternally saved. For I have found myself incapable of being perfect according to any standard. I believe that if one was to tell me that in order to be saved, all I must "do" is refrain from punching my hand into a brick wall, I would eventually seal my doom by smashing my hand into the wall regardless of the harm I would inflict upon myself. O how glorious the saving grace of God through what His Son did for me and you on the cross! Now I am not bound to smash my hand!

"Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are."

- Peter, Acts 15:10-11