bad influences
Judges 10:11-16
"The LORD replied, "When the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, the Sidonians, the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you and you cried to me for help, did I not save you from their hands? But you have forsaken me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you. Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble!"
But the Israelites said to the LORD, "We have sinned. Do with us whatever you think best, but please rescue us now." Then they got rid of the foreign gods among them and served the LORD. And he could bear Israel's misery no longer."
The Israelites were surrounded by many ancient cultures whose beliefs radically differed from their own... and they easily fell prey to their influences, whether it was pagan religions or foreign military domination.
One of the hardest things to break out for myself sometimes is the bad influences of the culture we live in today - selfishness, negativity, nihilism, materialism, etc. Sometimes the influences are so subtle that I forget they're even there and messing with the way that I think about things, especially my own life and personal circumstances. I find myself falling into the trap of measuring my success and goals in life by worldly standards, and I have to resist that.
"The LORD replied, "When the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, the Sidonians, the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you and you cried to me for help, did I not save you from their hands? But you have forsaken me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you. Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble!"
But the Israelites said to the LORD, "We have sinned. Do with us whatever you think best, but please rescue us now." Then they got rid of the foreign gods among them and served the LORD. And he could bear Israel's misery no longer."
The Israelites were surrounded by many ancient cultures whose beliefs radically differed from their own... and they easily fell prey to their influences, whether it was pagan religions or foreign military domination.
One of the hardest things to break out for myself sometimes is the bad influences of the culture we live in today - selfishness, negativity, nihilism, materialism, etc. Sometimes the influences are so subtle that I forget they're even there and messing with the way that I think about things, especially my own life and personal circumstances. I find myself falling into the trap of measuring my success and goals in life by worldly standards, and I have to resist that.
posted by G @ 11:59 PM
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