Genesis 31 tells of Jacob with his family leaving Laban to return to his home. The account says Jacob left without informing Laban because he was afraid of how Laban would respond. In Genesis 31:24, Laban was about to go and overtake Jacob. Scripture says God did not stop him, but He warned him.
It says, “But God had come to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night and said to him. Be careful that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad.” In other words, God was saying to Laban, be careful not to act in anger when you catch up with Jacob. I won’t like that, and you won’t like that I won’t like it. I am no idol.
In Genesis 31:30 Laban says, “And now you have surely gone because you greatly long for your father’s house, but why did you steal my gods?” The gods Laban is talking about were the household idols that belonged to Laban.
Laban was angry because he thought Jacob had taken the things that he worshipped. We could call them his idols, we could call them his gods, or we could call them the things he worshipped. However we choose to refer to them, Laban didn’t have the sense to realize that the God who spoke to him in a dream is the only true God.
Listen, the gods we create are not the same as the God who created us. In fact, I will say that we shouldn’t even refer to the things we create as gods at all. There is only one God though there may be many things we hold as idols. But we must be careful never to idolize anything in the way we should hold our God.
Laban was chasing after something to which he gave his intentional praise and adoration. He was chasing after something he had given a special position in his life. We must never give to anything the things that we should only give to God. We must never hold anything in a position in our lives that should only be occupied by God.
I don’t believe it’s wrong by itself to have love for things. But we should remember this. Things are things. We shouldn’t love things like we love God. Things are things. If God is not at the top of your life, then nothing else should be there. We should have nothing higher than God.
The gods Laban created came from his thoughts and his mind. They were not the same as the one true God. The gods we create are not the same as our God.
Laban had many gods; our God is one. He has us, or we are lost.
Laban’s gods could not speak or hear; our God speaks to us, and He listens to us.
Laban’s gods could not keep themselves from being stolen; our God keeps us from being stolen away.
Laban’s gods could exist only in the place he placed them; our God exists in everyplace and in anyplace.
Laban’s gods could not prevent themselves from being moved; our God lives everywhere and moves anywhere as He pleases.
Laban’s gods could not think or act; our God thinks and acts on our behalf always.
Laban’s gods were created by Laban; our God has always existed, and He created us.
Laban’s gods were powerless; our God is all power.
The gods we create are not the same as the God who created us. Let’s make sure that as we live each day we do not intentionally or unintentionally create the idea of something that might take the position that God should occupy in our lives.
Let’s make sure nothing gets the praise and worship that we should only give God.
When we remember they are not the same, we will learn to live on God’s mantel, in God’s house, in God’s mind, and in His heart. And when He is ready to move, He will move us along with Him. We will never have to go looking for God when we remember we live in Him more than He lives in our thoughts.
We may lose our idols, but we can never lose our God because we are found by Him, held by Him, given life in Him, and we have life by Him. He is not the same as anyone or anything else.
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