Here is the deal. I do not believe we are to worship pagan gods. I have two cats in my house. Cats were once worshiped as gods. The fact that I have these in my house does not mean I worship them. Dogs were once worshiped as gods in the Asian Pacific and even some areas in Central and South America. We have several dogs and I dont worship them either. Plants have been worshipped by Celts, Druids and even Hindus. We have plants in our house, not many because they tend to die here, but a few and we dont worship them either. We have crosses hanging on our walls, on shelves, in pictures, but we dont worship them either. We worship the One who is the Word of God made flesh and who made his dwelling among men. The same one who died upon the cross and shed his blood for our sins, we worship Him. At Christmas we have a tree in our house but we do not worship the tree. I have heard it said that the word says condemns doing anything under green trees in his worship, specifically referencing Duet. 10:2-4. I looked the verses up. They read, You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of the gods and destroy their names from that place. You shall not worship the Lord your God with such things. It does not condemn doing anything under green trees in His worship. It says to destroy those places where those nations served their gods. No pagans worship their gods under my tree, nor have they ever done so. There is not something there to destroy. The word says to destroy altars, sacred pillars, burn wooden images, and cut down carved images of their gods. My tree is not an altar, it is not sacred nor is it a pillar, it is not a wooden image, nor a carved image. It is simply a tree. Nothing holy about it. I do not worship it. Nor do I have a problem with those who chose to interpret the scripture that for them, they must not put up a tree. I do not condemn them, I do not publicly denounce them, belittle them, or ridicule them for this belief. I respect their belief and I respect them. I would ask the same from those with the opposing view point. I love the Lord Jesus with my whole heart and I pray for unity within the body. Unity is of God. Division is not. If one choses to spread division, who benefits from that behavior? In essentials let there be unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all else, charity. God Bless.
Posted on: Sat, 16 Aug 2014 02:20:10 +0000