Death of 24000

God is a jealous God; we always knew that, but the number of deaths due to the disobeying Israelites is kind of like a "wake-up alarm." Certainly these things don't happen these days; we do not see God smack down a nation with plagues and killing them for bowing down and worshiping idols (or perhaps we do...), but one thing I do see and feel is that the American religion (American Christianity) has numbed most of us, made us feel less sensitive as we simply watch images and images of starvation, people under tyranny and persecution, and grown accustomed to our "comfortable" lives here (sometimes we think the life we have here is just as hard in many different ways, and while certainly true, most of us do have a shelter and clothes and food but most of all the freedom to worship).

But loving God and leading a Christian life is a serious matter. So serious that back in the days, turning away from God and worshiping idols meant death in many ways. And yet, we must search our hearts and confess that we may have other forms of idols in our lives, that we must once again turn our eyes from worldly things and needs, and focus on God.

Most of us do not worship another "god", but we do follow hard after money, care very much for our family and friends, and our work/school grades. Certainly these are God-given blessings and responsibilities that we must be responsible for, but I think we must continuously check our hearts to make sure we are not idolizing any of them... and always give the best to God.