Gods and Goddesses

            Most years, our family celebrates Passover in our home, with other families. No, we are not Jewish. But, as Believers, the Bible says we have been adopted into the family of Abraham, so we like to keep the family traditions.

            This year we had the privilege of celebrating Passover with our church family. Keeping with the tradition of this being a small, intimate dinner, there were only 400 or so of us.

            Passover is the telling of the story in the book of Exodus, where God used Moses to rescue the Hebrew people out of slavery in Egypt. To do this, God brought ten terrifying plagues on the land of Egypt. After each one, the king of Egypt (Pharaoh) said the people could leave. Then, when the plague stopped, Pharaoh changed his mind and would not let the people go.

            Not only did he and the Egyptian people believe their gods were more powerful than the Hebrew’s God, Pharaoh wanted to be worshipped as the greatest god. Why would Pharaoh believe in the Hebrew God? God’s people had been Egypt’s slaves for 400 years.

            This year at Passover, the teacher (my amazing hubby!) pointed out something I had not known before. Each of the plagues God brought on the land represented a god or goddess that the Egyptians worshipped. By causing the plagues, God was showing, miraculously, that He was the One True God. As Creator of the universe, He was more powerful than any idol the people worshipped.

The plagues came against these gods and goddesses:

Blood – god of the Nile River

Frogs – god of fertility

Lice – god of the earth

Beasts – god of creation and rebirth

Cattle Disease – goddess of love and protection

Boils – goddess of medicine and peace

Hail – goddess of the sky

Locusts – god of storms and disorder

Darkness – Ra, the sun god

Death of the firstborn – Pharaoh, god on earth, the ultimate power

            I wondered what those gods and goddesses would be for us today. What idols, or gods, do we place above our One True God? What plague would the Lord bring about today, to prove, once again, that He is the God of the universe, and can crush any imaginary gods we set up and worship? 
           Although the list is infinite, I came of with ten modern gods that we potentially, put above our God.

Consumerism: stuff, stuff and more stuff

Comforts: easy life, best of everything

Celebrities: in movies, TV, magazines, talk shows, Why do we idolize these people?

Control: my way or the highway, my way is best, don’t mess with my schedule

Criticism: we judge everyone and everything, from our top politicians, to our waitresses

Chemicals: drugs, alcohol, caffeine, sugar, food in general

Careers: positions, prestige, reputation, and accomplishments

Children: we talk about, promote, brag on, worship, plan around and rescue these gifts from God

Cleavage: sex, sexiness, lust, porn, and affairs

Concerns: excessive worry, unfounded fears, obsessions, crippling anxiety

            The list could go on and on; coins, causes, cleaning. These things should not take precedence over our God. These things should not be bigger in our mind and thoughts than the God who created us. We should not spend more time thinking and worshipping these things, than we do thinking about and worshipping our loving Heavenly Father.

            I don’t know what plagues God would have to bring, for us to realize that He is more powerful than these imaginary idols.

            I do know that this Passover and Easter season, I want to put the One True God, above these things. My prayer for myself, my family and you, is that we will all:

“Love the Lord, our God with all of our heart, all of our soul, and all of our mind.” Matthew 22:37 

Passover 2014

What small gods can you add to this list?  They don’t have to start with ‘C’.