Something to think about:

What do you put your faith in? What brings you joy? Did you know that sometimes we can find “Joy” in something that isn’t God? Sometimes that something could even be religious. Ministries, mission trips and even worship services can be turned into idols if we don’t keep our relationship with Christ in focus.

It’s easy for us to elevate man-made things in our lives, because those are the things that we understand. In the passage of scripture we are about to read the Israelites had begun to treat the ark of the covenant like a lucky rabbit’s foot. They began to worship and find joy in the man-made box used to house the almighty God, rather than the almighty God himself. It’s often easy for us to point the finger at the nation of Israel and think “how could they be so blind” and yet we do the exact same thing so very often. Let’s take a look at what happens when we start to put our identity in things that are man-made.

Turn in your Bibles to: 1 Samuel 4:1-11

The key point this morning is this…

Key Point: “When the focus of our joy is on something or someone other than God, joy is just a mirage disguised as hope.”

1. We must remember who God is
2. Destruction follows when the focus of our joy is on something man-made.
3. Even something good can become an idol if it becomes the source of our joy.

Something to take home:

Where are you today? What brings you joy? Do you receive guidance and joy directly from God through your relationship with Him? Christians so often confuse temporary happiness for Joy, which causes us to become concerned with our own physical needs or wants above all else. We often say things like “that service didn’t make me feel anything” or “I’m not getting anything out of this” because we’re focused only on ourselves. If we focus on what things like preaching or worship can do for us personally, then Church becomes something it was never meant to be, and the standards become too high. The very existence of those things should be to point us towards God and enhance our relationship with Him. If you allow the church to become your god then you will struggle to find Joy.

If you begin to order things in your life correctly and acknowledge the purpose of things like the church, and scripture, and worship, and all the ministries that exist as tools to worship God, then you will start feeling Joy in the Lord in a new and exciting way.

Key Point: “When the focus of our joy is on something or someone other than God, joy is just a mirage disguised as hope.”