“the people sat down to eat and to drink and rose up to play” [Exodus 32:6]

p>“the people sat down to eat and to drink and rose up to play”. Aaron proclaimed it a feast to the Lord but it was idolatry. When worship becomes eating, drinking and playing it becomes idolatry. True worship is both happy and deeply satisfying, but it is not hilarity or play.
God was graciously real to the Children of Israel and worked miraculously on their behalf bringing them out of the bondage of Egypt. Yet when Moses ascended Mount Sinai to receive the Law, the Israelites turned to idolatry in a way one could hardly imagine. And they made the worship of an idol made from their earrings a most festive occasion.
Their behaviour reminds us that happiness and a good time are not enough. What is important is whether our conduct pleases the Lord.