This will not be pretty.

The folly of men.

Isaiah 44:14b – 20

14b He (a man) plants a fir, and the rain makes it grow.
15 Then it becomes something for a man to burn, so he takes one of them and warms himself; he also makes a fire to bake bread. He also makes a god and worships it; he makes it a graven image and falls down before it.
16 Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he eats meat as he roasts a roast and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, "Aha! I am warm, I have seen the fire."
17 But the rest of it he makes into a god, his graven image He falls down before it and worships; he also prays to it and says, "Deliver me, for you are my god."
18 They do not know, nor do they understand, for He has smeared over their eyes so that they cannot see and their hearts so that they cannot comprehend.
19 No one recalls, nor is there knowledge or understanding to say, "I have burned half of it in the fire and also have baked bread over its coals I roast meat and eat it then I make the rest of it into an abomination, I fall down before a block of wood!"
20 He feeds on ashes; a deceived heart has turned him aside and he cannot deliver himself, nor say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”

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I have loved this story. It has been one of my favorites. I have laughed and said to myself and others, “Doesn’t God have a sense of humor?” I have thought, “the FOOLS!

How can they be so stupid?"

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I have sat for YEARS under the preaching of a gifted man, I have heard the true, convicting WORD of GOD expounded upon countless times. I have sincerely BELIEVED that I loved God and hated sin while I sat in my pew in my 325 lb body and took communion and smugly prayed, mostly for OTHERS.

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Sadly, this Old Testament passage is no longer funny to me. I don’t shake my head, roll my eyes and say, “Idiots! Can you not SEE?”

I WEEP as I write these words and I plead, “God! FORGIVE ME for being SO BLIND to my own sin for so long!” and I beg Him to finish what He has begun in me. I beg Him to continue breaking me, and I THANK Him for his mercy, His loving-kindness, His gentleness and most of all for His LONG-SUFFERING patience with me, His most wretched child!

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