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our Asherahs and standing stones
Deuteronomy 16:21-22 (JDV)
Deuteronomy 16:21 “Do not set up an Asherah of any kind of wood next to the altar you will build for Yahveh your God,
Deuteronomy 16:22 and do not set up a standing stone; Yahveh your God hates them.
our Asherahs and standing stones
When I was a teenager, I had one of those mule-choker Bibles — a huge red King James covered in worn leather. I used to take it to school with me, and put it on my desk. It was very impressive, and that was the point. I wanted the other kids to know how spiritual I was. I didn’t know at the time that it was a standing stone for me.
Both the Asherahs and the standing stones were objects of worship that the Canaanites placed outside their houses. They were probably carved/chiseled and possibly painted to depict the images of Baal and his wife Asherah. The pagans probably competed to determine who was capable of producing the best ornament that identified the household as religious or pious.
God told the Israelites not to do that. They could build family altars, where they could seek his face in prayer and ask for his help, but he never wanted their family worship to degrade to what it had become for the Canaanites. He hated that. He still does.
Our relationship with God and our spiritual health is not a matter of competition. The only appropriate way to display it is by displaying our acts of obedience and attitudes of humility and mutual care for one another. Anything else is in danger of becoming an Asherah or standing stone, which God does not appreciate.
Lord, help us to tear down our Asheras and standing stones, and build godly lives that truly honor you.
Devotions 
Jefferson, Don’t underestimate the influence you perhaps had on less enthusiastic Christian classmates or non-believing classmates. As a less than enthusiastic Christian, I was shamed by a classmate named Martha Brown who carried a large black KJV Bible throughout all four years of high school. She read the Bible during lunch hour aloud to anyone who would listen. She later became a pastor’s wife in Canada with a Christian ministry to children. A few years ago, I reached out to tell her how much she had influenced me 50 years ago. All I could find was her obituary stating that she passed away from cancer in the 1990’s. I say to you what I would have said to Martha, “God bless you for carrying that huge, red leather Bible in high school. Perhaps someday a classmate will tell the same that I wish I had told Martha.
(PS) I have been a pastor in South Eliot, Maine alongside Kent Davis for the past eighteen years.
Charlie Downes
Point taken, Charlie!