Pray For Others

It is easy to cast judgment on others, yet the reality is that we all fall. God warned Cain that sin is crouching at your door and that it desires to have you (Genesis 4:7). The same holds true for both you and me. The sins of the world are at our doors. We must pray and remain steadfast. 1 Timothy 2:1 reminds us to include others in our prayers to God.

The verse reads, “First of all, then, I urge that entreatries and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men.” For some, ‘all men’ refers only to fellow Christians. But for me and at this moment, ‘all men’ are those who celebrated the unveiling of a gold statue of the 47th president at his Doral, FL, golf club.

Due to the influx of AI-generated content and deepfakes, I initially doubted the story’s validity. The headline from the Independent took my breath away. It read, “Pastor leads wild dedication ceremony for Trump’s gold statue at his own golf club.”

I stared at the screen, unsure if this was a content creator’s attempt to sow discord or seek laughs with an AI image. I closed the article, but the algorithm bombarded my feed with more news reports and images. Each confirmed the magazine’s headline. My heart sank.

The secular world does not honor Christ. Yet, my mind did not want to believe that even the wicked world would blatantly disobey God so brazenly. And no self-professed follower of Jesus would align with worldly disobedience, right?

Unfortunately, a pastor was at the unveiling ceremony. The article quoted him as saying, “Let me be clear, this is not a golden calf. It is a celebration of life and a powerful symbol of resilience, freedom, and patriotism.”

Whether they are Christian or not, many people know the story of the golden calf in Exodus thirty-two. Verses 7-8 record God’s anger. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf.”

Another cautionary story is that of the ninety-foot statue of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 3. The Babylonians, as well as those exiled, were instructed to worship the gold statue whenever the trumpets and trombones sounded.

I cannot speak to the pastor’s intent, but his words indicate his knowledge of the command not to have any other gods before our Heavenly Father. His attempt to rationalize his actions is similar to others in the Bible who did not take responsibility for their sins.  

Adam was the first. It is hard to comprehend, but Adam actually blamed God for eating the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden. Genesis 3:12 shows his lack of responsibility: “The man said, ‘The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.’”

Even Moses did not take responsibility for his sin. He repeatedly blamed the Israelites for making him strike the rock to get water. In Deuteronomy 4:21, Moses said, “Now the Lord was angry with me on your account, and swore that I would not cross the Jordan.”

Perhaps they sought to justify their disobedience because they knew in their hearts what they had done.

When it comes to erecting statues, the Ten Commandments are clear. The first four verses in Exodus 20:1-4 state, Then God spoke all these words, saying, ‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery’.

1. You shall have no other gods before Me.
2. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.

I cannot say for certain if the crowd staring up at the twenty-two-foot golden statue of the U.S. president considers it an idol or god. There is only one lawgiver and judge (James 4:12). Only He knows their hearts.

None of us were at the planning meetings, so we do not know the statue’s intent. If we were, perhaps we would have raised concerns about the implications of a golden statue. We might have warned them that sin is crouching at the door.

So, what now? We follow 1 Timothy 2:1 to pray on behalf of all men. We serve a forgiving and merciful God. He hears the fervent prayers of the righteous. Will you join me in petitioning for others who may have fallen into sin?

Let’s pray for:

1. Believers and non-believers who attended the statue’s unveiling will not fall into idolatry.
2. Our gracious heavenly Father, to forgive intentional as well as unintentional sins of the repentant sinner.
3. And, lastly, pray for me and everyone reading this newsletter not to look at the speck in our brother’s eye and not notice the log in our own eyes. After all, Romans 3:10 reminds us of our frailty. The verses read, “There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one.”

May God keep you and bless you,
Tika

What I am Reading: 

Notable Quote: 

“People’s weariness comes from enduring their own burdens.” Pastor De’Andre Burgs

Just for fun:

It’s still a little breezy, but I enjoyed an afternoon walking the beach. Summer is almost here!