“So the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth,
and they served the Lord only.” – 1 Samuel 7:4

 The Ark of the Covenant, which to them represented the presence of God, had returned from the hands of Philistines 20 years ago.  Yet, for 20 years they lived in sorrow because what they viewed as their “good luck charm” wasn’t working for them.  They felt as though God had abandoned them.

The truth of the matter was that God had NOT abandoned THEM, but THEY had abandoned GOD.  They tried to live in two worlds.  They wanted the blessings that came from God, but they also wanted the charms of the culture around them. In a word, they wanted to be godly and worldly at the same time.  They discovered over this 20 year period that God doesn’t play that game, He requires an exclusive relationship.

Things haven’t changed much over the last 3000 years. God’s people still try to live in both worlds.  We want to be liked by our contemporaries and loved by God.  Perhaps the problem is that we want to be loved by our contemporaries and liked by God.  We want God’s hand, but we are not interested in His heart.

Revival will come in my life when I recognize God’s competition in my heart and eliminate it.  That competition seems to be from worthwhile pursuits.  The devil often doesn’t tempt us to replace God with bad things. The lines are more blurred than that. He tempts us to ADD good things in our lives that are inferior to God.

What about you?  What is God’s competition in your life?  What do you need to “put away’? An attitude…dream…person…position…possession?

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