The Foundation of a Nation

A nation loses its way not when people become mean and irresponsible, but when people wander after other gods. Keep Reading…

READ
Exodus 23:32-33 - Do not make a covenant with them or with their gods. Do not let them live in your land, or they will cause you to sin against me, because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare to you.

REFLECT
In all of his commands God keeps going back to one central theme - worship. The reason that God did not want his people living with and inter-marrying with the nations around them had to do with worship. The other nations (Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, etc.) allied themselves to false gods. And these gods led them into all sorts of violence and perversions. False worship is always self-destructive.

God is so good. He did not want his people to be destroyed by rebellion and idol worship. So he was very clear about where their loyalties should lie. Loyalty to God should always come before loyalty to people. When God is at the center of a nation, life and fulfillment permeates every aspect of the society.

Purity in social responsibility flows out of a purity in worship of the One true God… not the other way around. The reason that a society becomes socially irresponsible is not because people are mean-spirited at the core. It is because their worship is wrongly directed. The worship of God will always bring about real justice and care for the poor and oppressed.

Today, the church is called to bring the nation back to the worship of God, not with swords, but by prayer, love in action and the Word of God. It all starts with God's people. When they rid themselves of idolatry and gain purity in worship, the nation, even the world, has a chance for real life and goodness to flow.

RESPOND
Are there any areas of impurity in your worship? Any idols, even small ones, lingering in your life? Can you connect these to problem areas in your home, work or personal life? It’s time to smash the idols and return to a pure worship of the One true God.