Just call me THOR

I will take you to be my wife/husband, to live in holy marriage. I will love you, comfort you, honor and keep you in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, be faithful to you as long as we both shall live.

Familiar marriage vows. Vows that I found myself thinking about as I was reading the vows that God made to his people and vows that he asked for in return.

Exodus 34:10 - The Lord replied, “Listen, I am making a covenant with you in the presence of all your people. I will perform miracles that have never been performed anywhere in all the earth…But listen carefully to everything I command you today. Then I will go ahead of you and drive out the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites…Be very careful never to make a treaty with the people who live in the land where you are going…Instead, you must break down their pagan altars, smash their sacred pillars…You must worship no other gods…”

This is known as God’s covenant with his chosen people. It’s not labeled as an old covenant, but when Jesus came he introduced a new covenant. We call it communion where we remember his death and resurrection on our behalf and the promise that he’ll come again. However, I find myself unable to ignore that first covenant. Specifically, the part about tearing down pagan altars and sacred pillars. 

Because, for me, it’s not enough to just focus on what Jesus did for me. It also involves living my life for him. And part of that life is the tearing down of pillars and altars. Pillars and altars of sin. That I commit and construct on a regular basis.

Each time I slander, a pillar is started. Each time I choose unforgiveness, an altar is placed. And the longer I let it go, the more I ignore and give into it, the higher my pillars and altars become. Believe it or not, throughout this past week, each time I sinned, I swear I heard a “kerplunk.” The stones being placed. Including the one day when I knew I had mean thoughts about someone. I looked at God and said, “I know I’m wrong, but I want to stay here for a while.” Which he calmly let me while we both watched and heard more “kerplunks.”

The tricky thing, when it comes to altars and pillars, is the idea that I’m right. That my “sacred” opinions and values and judgments are correct. This can cover anything from politics (which, honestly, I have little understanding) to religion to prejudices to behaviors to attitudes. Times when I think I’m right. To the point where others get my cold shoulder or secret slanderous thoughts. It’s so unbelievably divisive. In my heart and in my mind. Sometimes in my behavior. It becomes so normal, at times, that the sounds of stones being dropped right in front of me become commonplace, the “kerplunks” becoming white noise. And then before you know it I'm worshipping other gods.

I know on this side of heaven I will constantly battle the building of my personal pillars and altars. I'd love to get to the place where I stop or respond to the “kerplunks” as soon as they hit the ground. But the reality is that, most likely, I’m going to be building a few pagan altars and some sacred pillars. So I've decided that I need to find an extra large backpack and then get my hands on a hammer, a Thor size hammer. To tear down and destroy all the gods that I build. Because there’s truly nothing I desire more than to build my life for him. To worship him. To worship the One True God. To remain faithful to our vows.