TONY & MICHELLE PAWLAK
MEMORY VERSE
“You shall have no other gods before Me.”
Exodus 20:3
What is an idol? Technically, an idol is a statue that represents a false god that people worship. However, in a broader sense, an idol can be anything that we hold more important or give more love to than God Himself. We can make an idol out of money, sports figures, movies stars, video games, bands and singers, science, even the sun, moon, and stars. Whatever we make an idol of, it is wrong and God doesn't like it one bit!
Judah (southern Israel) had a good king named Hezekiah who loved God and worshiped only Him. When his son,
Manasseh, was only twelve years old, Hezekiah decided that it would be a good time to start training him to become king. So for the next ten years, Judah had two king: Hezekiah and Manasseh.
When Hezekiah died, Manasseh became the only king. He knew how to be a good
king and follow God because his father had taught him well. However, Manasseh made a very bad decision to worship false gods. He led Judah to serve the same false gods that the evil king Ahab and queen Jezebel had worshiped: Ba'al and Asherah. He even had them worship the sun, moon, and stars! To make matters worse, they even worshiped idols and false gods in God's Temple in Jerusalem!
By doing this, Manasseh had broken the first two of God's
Ten Commandments: Do not worship other gods and do not
make any idols. Manasseh's disobedience greatly angered God. God decided that something drastic had to be done so He put it on the heart of the king of Assyria to attack and conquer Judah.
Ten Commandments: Do not worship other gods and do not
King Manasseh was captured
and led back to Assyria with a metal ring through his nose! He had to walk all the way from Jerusalem to the evil city of Babylon! Manasseh was a prisoner there for twelve years! In that time he learned that what he did was very wrong. He prayed to God for forgiveness and help. Do you think that even God could forgive a man like Manasseh.
God loves to forgive those who are truly sorry and ask for it. God doesn't just punish people because He is angry, He
wants to make them better people! So God even forgave Manasseh. Then He put it on the heart of the King of Assyria to let Manasseh go home and become king of Judah again!
When Manasseh got back on his throne, he changed his
evil ways. He ordered that all the idols and false gods be destroyed and the Temple be cleaned of anything wrong. He ordered that only God be worshiped in Judah and rededicated the Temple to God.
We are only supposed to worship God and never put anything or anyone before or above Him. Sometimes we forget and begin to accidentally worship those things mentioned at the beginning. Luckily for us, God loves to forgive. That's why He sent His Son Jesus to pay for our sins. We have to tell God our sins, ask Him to forgive us, stop doing wrong, and start doing right. Remember, if God is punishing you it's not just because He is angry at you or that He hates you. God just wants to teach you to be a better person.
We are only supposed to worship God and never put anything or anyone before or above Him. Sometimes we forget and begin to accidentally worship those things mentioned at the beginning. Luckily for us, God loves to forgive. That's why He sent His Son Jesus to pay for our sins. We have to tell God our sins, ask Him to forgive us, stop doing wrong, and start doing right. Remember, if God is punishing you it's not just because He is angry at you or that He hates you. God just wants to teach you to be a better person.
REMEMBER, THE CYBER POINT AND MEMORY VERSE ARE WORTH DOUBLE POINTS THIS WEEK!!
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