Beautiful Seduction

A full moon shining brightly as evening falls easily catches the eye.

Moon Worship

In ages past, it would be easy to be taken captive by the moon’s beauty, thinking it a God requiring our worship. In fact, it is still tied to worship in a number of religions today.

While it is beautiful, it remains just one piece of God’s handiwork of creation.

Then God said, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them be signs to mark the seasons, days, and years. Let these lights in the sky shine down on the earth.” And that is what happened. God made two great lights—the larger one to govern the day, and the smaller one to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set these lights in the sky to light the earth, to govern the day and night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.

And evening passed and morning came, marking the fourth day.

Genesis 1:14-19 NLT

God repeatedly reminded his people that we were created to worship him, not his creation.

So do not corrupt yourselves by making an idol in any form—whether of a man or a woman, an animal on the ground, a bird in the sky, a small animal that scurries along the ground, or a fish in the deepest sea. And when you look up into the sky and see the sun, moon, and stars—all the forces of heaven—don’t be seduced into worshiping them. The LORD your God gave them to all the peoples of the earth.

Deuteronomy 4:16-19

Most of us today consider ourselves too scientific to fall into moon worship, no matter how lovely it is.

It’s Not Moon Worship, But . . .

What seduces us away from worshiping God? They may not be physical things like the moon, but our values can tell us a lot about where our worship lands.

• Do we value acceptance among peers more than living to please our Creator and Savior?
• Do we consider time and effort spent achieving our personal goals as more important than pursuing God’s plans for our lives?
• Do we speak our minds freely, or do we listen first for God’s leading in our conversations?
• What kind of things are on our wish lists? “If I only had _____, I could _____!”
• How do we spend the money God provides?
• What do we pray for?

What does God Value?

May we take an honest look inside, and set our priorities in the order God prescribes:

Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Matthew 22:37-39