Substitute…
As a teacher of English as a second language, words and their meanings hold a special fascination to me. How does a word function? What does it mean?
Substitute…noun or verb?
Dictionary.com:
noun ~ a person or thing acting or serving in place of another
verb ~ to put (a person or thing) in the place of another
In Exodus, the second book of the Bible, chapter 20, verses 1-5, God very clearly states, “I am the Lord your God…You are to have no other gods but me. You are not to make an image or picture of anything in heaven or on the earth or in the waters under the earth: You may not go down on your faces before them or give them worship: for I, the Lord your God, am a God who will not give his honour to another;…” (The Bible in Basic English)
Me? Bow on my face in worship before something or someone who is not GOD? I would NEVER do such a thing! I’m a Christian! I worship God and God alone!
Yet tonight I heard Him speak to me, “You have been giving time to seek first the world’s way to rest and not Mine!”
I was struck by the simple fact that I have been taking action to “substitute” an unhealthy source for unwinding to serve in the place of a much more healthy way to relax. The result? Contamination of my heart, my soul, and my mind. I have “worshiped” at the feet of one of Satan’s “substitutes.”
You see, Satan provides alternatives to keep us from the very things that would bathe us in God’s rest! He knows how rejuvenated and refreshed we would be if we chose God and His way at every turn. Yet so often we focus our devotion on a substitute of the enemy meant to distract us. I purpose to choose God and His ways, but I need His strength to make the right choices. God help me!
Today, I chose God’s way, and I was immersed in the warmth of His Spirit and in truths from His Word through a medium that always touches the deepest part of me ~ music! I have wept and even sobbed; I have giggled and even laughed; I have praised and worshiped Him and have been carried upward in my heart, my soul, and my mind!
Now I feel rested!
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