Read: Isaiah 57
Devotion: Israel’s greatest failing was their idolatry. Though the Lord provided them with more than they ever dreamed of, Israel continually ran after other gods in the hope of getting more. Of course, idols are nothing and so they couldn’t offer Israel anything. The only God, the living God of heaven and earth, had planted Israel in the land and given them rest. Not only that, but the land was a picture of the eternal rest that God offere offered his people, if they would only trust in Him. Yet, they ran after other gods seeing if they could provide peace. This idolatrous pursuit absolutely destroyed their nation.
The pursuit of idols and the peace that they offered only led Israel into further and further depravity (Isa. 57:4-6). Idols, false gods, are one of two things: either they are merely lumps of wood or stone or plastic fashioned by man with no spiritual force behind them (Ps. 115:4-8), or they are that crafted thing with a demonic force behind them (1 Cor. 10:20). Because of this, all that idols can offer is either nothing at best or death and destruction at worst. In the day of trouble they cannot save, they cannot redeem, and they certainly cannot give peace (Isa. 57:13).
In stark contrast, all those who finds their refuge in the one true and living God will find salvation, redemption, and eternal peace. Israel had abandoned the one source of peace for counterfeits. And yet, God in his mercy continued to hold out his hand to them and promised them a future day of repentance leading to peace (vv. 14-19). But for the wicked in the land there would be no peace because there can be no peace without God.
Sadly, it seems that there are many professing Christians who have not learned this lesson. There are some professing Christians who seek out the teachings of Buddhist monks or practitioners of pantheistic transcendental meditation in an attempt to attain the peace that they seemingly experience as they meditate. It’s unsurprising that the world views Buddhist monks and other worldly meditative practices as viable sources of avenues of attaining peace, but why are supposed Christians trying to learn from idols? Again, what do idols have to do with peace? What can be gleaned from them that cannot be gleaned from the sufficient Word of God?
Rather than Buddhists or Hindus or Transcendentals, Christians should be the ones most characterized by peace. We are to be the peacemakers (Matt. 5:9), not in the sense of pursuing world peace, but in the sense of having a ministry and the message of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:14-21). In addition, we should be the people with the best handle on anxiety and managing stress. Not because we know some secret mantras or methods, but because we have access to the God of peace through Christ to go to him with our cares and have been enabled through the Spirit to properly handle such troubles (Phil. 4:4-9). That’s not to mention that we are able to have the peace of Christ rule in our hearts and have the God of peace living within us producing within us a character defined, in part, by peace (Col. 3:15; Gal. 5:22).
We cannot and we should not outsource our spiritual practices and our understanding and pursuit of peace to idols. There is only one source of peace and that is Yahweh. There is only one way to attain that peace and that is through Christ. There is only one who cultivates true eternal peace in the hearts of his people and that is the Spirit. We evangelize those of other faiths, but we don’t seek to learn spiritual practices from them, and we certainly don’t view them as a source of peace. They are without God and thus, at the present, are without hope and peace (Eph. 2:12).
Rather than trying to learn how they achieve peace, let us teach them about the true eternal peace of God that is only available through faith in Christ.
Ponder and Pray: Consider the futility of turning to idols in the pursuit of peace. How can we evangelize those of other faiths without being influenced by them? Finish your time with God with a prayer for protection from all idolatry.
