You won't be able to offer sacrifices of wine to the LORD. None of your sacrifices will please him-- they will be unclean like food offered to the dead. Your food will only be used to satisfy your hunger; none of it will be brought to the LORD's temple. You will no longer be able to celebrate the festival of the LORD. Even if you escape alive, you will end up in Egypt and be buried in Memphis. Your silver treasures will be lost among weeds; thorns will sprout in your tents.
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I've heard the story of a young man who was sitting in his father's office. I am going on distant memory so if the details are wrong please excuse me. To be honest, although the young man is a real person I do not know if the decision he made that or even the circumstances around it truly did happen. I do know that this young man's father was a preacher and it was in that preacher's office he was sitting that night.
The door was ajar. It was opened up enough for him to hear outside, but private enough for him to wrestle with the major decision he was confronting. There had been a special speaker that night. At the front of the church you could hear people still praying. It had the sounds of a successful "revival" service. It was a sound of peace that this young man listened to that was pulling him to make the right choice.
This young man was a musician. He was a very talented musician. He had been told that he was going to be a big star. Already he was building a strong and loyal local following. Not only did he have talent, he had charisma. And he was a ladies man. Combining his good looks and his confidence, girls all over the county were going dreamy eyed and he knew it. He had the whole package. Riches fame the life of a star was calling him.
But there was another calling. Although he didn't necessarily feel called to be a preacher like his father, he did know that God had given him his gifts for a reason. At this point in history there was no Christian music industry or perhaps the choice for this young man would have been easier. There were, however, some great outlets for his gifts. One of the biggest of these would be as a musician accompanying a traveling evangelist who would do special music, what we would today call a worship service. In fact, as I was told the story, the special speaker that evening had asked this young preacher's kid to join him in his ministry.
And that is the decision we find him weighing in that office. A door had been opened for him to break out into the secular music scene. Another door had been presented to him to use his gifts for God. And there, leaning against that open door he walked through the first and closed the latter. And he walked away.
That young man's dreams did become reality. He became richer than he could have imagined possible. He didn't just become famous, every home in America knew his name. He didn't just make an impact on the music world, he revolutionized it. Even today he is the icon of an era. You can still hear his music in stores and restaurants and you can still find his CD's displayed at music stores. But ultimately that young man, Elvis Presley, committed suicide. He was buried in Egypt (the Hebrews used the word to signify the world, or secular culture) and you can find his shrine at Memphis.
