Baal worship - Baal, god worshipped in many ancient Middle Eastern communities, especially among the Canaanites, who apparently considered him a fertility deity and one of the most important gods in the pantheon. As a Semitic common noun baal (Hebrew baʿal) meant “owner” or “lord,” As in my last blog Elijah defeated the prophets of Baal, in fact over 450 of them and over 400 prophets of Asherah. Asherah-the Canaanite fertility goddess, was the mother of Baal—the supreme Canaanite god of fertility, sun, and storm. As you can see people are going to worship something or someone and that worship is unacceptable by the one true God, Jehovah.
If you have been born again you have repented of your sins and given your life to Jesus and you are now a new person with a new identity. That identity is shown to us again and again by Jesus and in the writings of Paul and Peter. As we continue to pursue God we allow less and less of the influence of the world in our life and we learn more about the God who saved us from hell and gives us an eternity in heaven, also known as paradise. We must be very focused on the intent of who we follow or we will become like Ahab in 1 Kings 16 and begin to allow Baal worship to enter into his way of thinking. Ahab was so immersed in his worship of Baal that he kind of shook a fist at God and in 1 Kings 16:32 He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria.33 Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to arouse the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than did all the kings of Israel before him.
So Ahab not only worshipped Baal but led others to do the same and his evil influence spread to other kingdoms as well, When we compromise God's Word the effect always goes beyond us to those who listen to what we say, and before long they have walked that idol worship trail to disaster. The god Baal was so alluring that Ahab even brought in worship of the god Asherah and made an idol symbolizing Asherah and worshipped it. Our modern-day equivalent of that kind of worship would be how we lift up and follow those who are dominant on "social media." They become gods in the eyes of those who follow them and their continued indoctrination of the masses causes many to bail out on trusting God at all. Just because it seems trendy doesn't mean it is right and the best thing to do. Weigh those things heavily and run from the influence they will have on your life and you will live a standard that others will be encouraged to live as well. The Bible calls it having conviction.
If you are a big proponent of the world and it has overwhelmed you and your relationship with God, then it is time to draw a line in the sand and go no further in that mode of thinking and living. You can come to God and you must come back to God. Tozer wrote this in his book "The Pursuit of God." "Any man who by repentance and a sincere return to God will break himself out of the mold in which he has been held, and will go to the Bible itself for his spiritual standards, will be delighted with what he finds there."
The Bible calls us to follow God and him alone and in Colossians 3:23-24 Paul writes 23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Here is the take on all of that for you and me. SERVE GOD AND NO ONE ELSE. DO NOT LIVE AS THE WORLD LIVES. Are you gonna Baal out? I hope not. If you have drifted then it is time to come back to God and be received with open arms. Because He lives you!!
The Pilgrimage Continues
David Warren
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