Golden Calves

 1 When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods[a] who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”
 2 Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods,[b] Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”
 5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD.” 6 So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.
Ex.32:1-5

Every time I read this, I am always amazed and disturbed. Moses was up on Mt. Sinai for only 40 days ... and in just this brief time these people totally turned their backs on the Lord God Almighty, fashioning an idol in the shape of a calf of gold to worship instead! God Himself had delivered them with a mighty arm and outstretched right hand, led them in the desert by pillars of cloud by day and pillars of fire by night, fed them supernaturally day by day, but yet in just a few days without Moses these people were clamoring for Aaron to make an idol for them to worship, and he complied, later lying to his brother about where the calf came from. Just a few days...and these were the actual folks that crossed the parted Red Sea! How could this have happened to these people, and so quickly? If it happened to them it can also happen to others...
The scriptures read " draw near to God and He will draw near to you" (James 4:8), "a broken and contrite heart God will not despise" (Psalm 51:17). But if our eyes and our hearts are not fixed on God, we too will find ourselves worshipping idols, maybe not a golden calf, but maybe other forms of gold, perhaps a career, perhaps another person we are obsessing about or a thousand other idols...no, maybe not the calf, but not less harmful and dangerous.
Moses utterly destroyed that calf. He didn't melt it back down and turn it into earrings again, he burned it in the fire and ground it to dust, making the faithless drink the remains.
But I encourage you, fix your eyes on Jesus, destroy the idols...worship God only.
Remember, there is nothing we desire that compares to Him.