They make for themselves molten images, idols skillfully made from their silver, all of them the work of craftsmen. They say of them, “Let the men who sacrifice (their children) kiss the calves.” Hosea 13:2 

Hosea saw some pretty gruesome practices. In ancient Israel, human sacrifice usually meant child sacrifice. Hosea watched as men sacrificed their children at pagan altars. Consider their twisted values. A craftsman would make a metal god, men would sacrifice their offspring and beg for the god’s help, and then the ‘live’ animals who matched the representation of the graven image were worshipped. Children were thrown away, animals were exalted. 

In some ways, our values today are similar. We can be bent to save whales but discard the unborn. We can prize a pet and ignore our own child. We can worship a god made with our hands but forget that in the end, it will burn in the fire. When we cease to actively worship God, our values distort in front of our eyes. What should be treasured no longer appeals. What should be abhorred becomes appealing. If, at that point, we don’t recognize the perversion of our affection, we will feed the wrong appetite. 

I know what it is to love something that was not good for me, to prize the thing that would eventually consume me. Because my heart was engaged though, I was not willing to consider that God was calling me to wash my hands of that which was unclean. My attachment skewed my perspective. The longer I ignored the call to make corrective changes, the harder it became to do so. Keeping short accounts of my values, preferably daily, will prevent me from taking a long pleasurable journey down a road that promises nothing but heartache. Worshipping God and Him only can only promise peace and a life with no regrets. 

Jesus, I will love what You love today and turn away from everything the repels You. I am Your disciple, first and foremost. Amen