What is your Nehushtan?

In Numbers 21:9, Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole. This bronze snake was a divinely instituted part of the spiritual and physical life of God's people. But then we see this:

2 Kings 18:4 (NET) He eliminated the high places, smashed the sacred pillars to bits, and cut down the Asherah pole. He also demolished the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been offering incense to it; it was called Nehushtan.

Just because something came from God, doesn't mean we must keep it forever. And when we start worshiping that thing, when it distracts us from focusing on God himself, we must get rid of it. Those of us involved in leading worship, even peripherally, need to pause and take an inventory. Is there anything--an element of the worship service, a habit, an attitude, a physical object--which has become Nehushtan for us?

The NET Bible® is freely available at www.bible.org/ .