Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Worry”
Our Bible verse for today: “Don’t be enraged, my Lord,’ Aaron replied. “Your yourself know that the people are intent on evil. They said to me, ‘Make us a god who will go before us because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt – we don’t know what has happened to him!” So I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, take it off,’ and they gave it to me. When I threw it into the fire, out came this calf!” Exodus 32:22-24 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Take responsibility for your own actions.”
Much of what we profess to be “worried” about is actually manufactured drama. It’s situations of our own making which we then exaggerate and distort in an effort to shift the blame to someone else. This is also known as having a victim mentality. The bad things that are happening to us, or which we think might happen to us, are all someone else’s fault. At least, that’s what we try to convince ourselves and everyone else is the case.
The scene from Exodus 32:22-24 is a great example. Aaron was busted. While Moses was away on the Mount receiving the Ten Commandments, Aaron had failed to provide good leadership for the people. He had allowed them to run wild and now that Moses was back, and holding Aaron accountable for his failure, Aaron was worried. So rather than simply admitting he was wrong and that the fault was his own, here was Aaron shucking and jiving, fabricating this ridiculous story, trying to shift the blame onto the people. It was so silly he should have been embarrassed. And the thing is, Moses and everyone else listening to this knew that Aaron was at fault and he was making a fool of himself as he tried to get out of it.
Aaron’s problem was that he was worried about the consequences his foolish actions were going to bring, and so he tried to shift the blame to others. It was cowardice on his part; but worry can have the effect on us. Strength of character enables us to push past the worry, admit the truth, and accept the responsibility.
Don’t allow yourself to assume a victim mentality and don’t attempt to shift the blame for your failures onto others. Doing so will end up causing you more worry and more anxiety in the end, then if you had simply accepted responsibility for it to begin with. I encourage you to take responsibility for your own actions.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 