February 09, 2012
Thursday
Weekday
by V. Romeo A. Almeda
Sharing God’s Message to Me
24 And from there he arose and went away
to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house, and would not have any
one know it; yet he could not be hid. 25 But immediately a woman, whose little
daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell
down at his feet. 26 Now the woman was a Greek, a Syrophoeni'cian by birth. And she begged him
to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 And he said to her, "Let the
children first be fed, for it is not right to take the children's bread and
throw it to the dogs." 28 But she answered him, "Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table
eat the children's crumbs." 29 And he said to her, "For this
saying you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter." 30 And she went home, and found the child
lying in bed, and the demon gone.
Have No
Other God Before Me
8 He did the same for all
his foreign wives who burned incense and sacrificed to their
Gods. 9 The Lord, therefore, became angry with Solomon, because his
heart was turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him
twice 10 (for though the Lord had forbidden him this very act of
following strange Gods, Solomon had not obeyed him). 1 Kgs 11:8-10
REFLECTION
There you go. The Lord became angry
with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the Lord. Not for having
many wives and concubines, although perhaps having too many of them was not
right either. 700 wives and 300 concubines, none of our aging actors or
ex-presidents can surpass that. But to be fair, concubinage was a common
practice in biblical times. Hagar was the concubine of Abraham, with whom he
fathered Ishmael. And God even protected both Hagar and Ishmael from the harsh
desert when Abraham sent them away on Sarah's insistence. Polygamy was also
common, as in the case of Elkanah having two wives: Penninah and Hannah (mother
of Samuel). The point is that neither polygamy nor concubinage, taken in the
context of biblical times, angered God. It was idolatry that angered God in
this instance.
Today idolatry takes many forms, and
many, if not all, are centered on the self. Money is idolized by many, such
that the more money we have the better. Money is not bad per se because we all
need money to accomplish many things. But when money is the focus of our
efforts, or the end that we seek, it leads us away from God. It leads us to
materialism - for newer gadgets like cellphones, laptops to newer, bigger cars,
and then bigger houses, all needing more money. It leads us to seek the vanity
of honor - for a promotion to a higher rank, a higher title which receives more
money. It leads us to the vanity of riches - so that we can buy Rolex oyster
watch, that Louis Vitton handbag, that Bally pair of shoes, that Gucci tie and
Hermes belt. Money for self, self for money. This is idolatry today.
LORD, let me have no other God but
You, and my time consumed in You. Amen
