ZECHARIAH 13:2

“‘And it will come about on that day,’ declares the LORD of armies, ‘that I will eliminate the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered; and I will also remove the prophets and the unclean spirit from the land.’” 

If I told you right now to not think about ice cream, what are you thinking about? Ice cream! You can’t help yourself. When a thought is planted in your mind, your mind just goes there. I have a friend who is an Illusionist. He is good at this. He will have you thinking he can read your mind, but all he is doing is planting thoughts in your head which lead right to what he wants you think. Pretty smooth.

The Lord, through Zechariah, is telling the people He does not even want the names of the false gods mentioned in the land. He is going to remove all mention of them to prevent the people from going towards them. Along with that, He is also going to remove all the false prophets who played into the craving of the people to “know their future.” The Lord is going to clean house.

APPLICATION

We have a practice in my ministry which we teach men who have an addiction to pornography or another unhealthy practice. We teach them to amputate this source. Just like a diseased or damaged arm or leg that has to be removed to protect the rest of the body, we have to amputate those things in our life that lead us astray. We can’t even give them a thought.

2 Corinthians 10:5 tells us to take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ. That’s the idea here. We must destroy any concept of this wrong thinking. That may mean some radical changes in your life. It may mean giving up certain types of movies or television programs. It may mean eliminating some friends you hang out with. Remember – amputation is about saving yourself.

When I think back on my decisions after coming to Christ, I had to stop hanging with some of the crowd I had been running with. I knew where that would lead if I did not make some changes. Is there something in your life that you need to amputate? Don’t wait. It will not bring your closer to Christ. Just the opposite! Cut it away now!

Father, help me rid myself of any “idols” or “false prophets” who only want to drag me down.