Monday, February 11, 2019
Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name goes all the glory for your unfailing love and faithfulness. Why let the nations say, “Where is their God?” Our God is in the heavens, and he does as he wishes. Their idols are merely things of silver and gold, shaped by human hands. They have mouths but cannot speak, and eyes but cannot see. They have ears but cannot hear, and noses but cannot smell. They have hands but cannot feel, and feet but cannot walk, and throats but cannot make a sound. And those who make idols are just like them, as are all who trust in them. Psalm 115:1-8(NLT)
I recall a little song we sang in
Sunday School and VBS when I was young.
It was filled with be careful.
· Be careful little mouth what you say, little eyes what you see, little
feet where you go, and be careful little hands what you touch.
It was a memorable song; I’m 71
and still remember it, even if I sang it off key! Reflecting on the lyrics, there’s a part of
me that celebrates teaching little fingers, eyes, hands, and mouths to behave
themselves. Another part of me, deeper
inside, wants to say:
Whatever
happened to be careful little heart what you worship?
The little song teaches behavior that
someone who believes in Christ ought to observe. However, that is a matter of enforcing
the Ten Commandments, and has little power to save a soul. As a rule, belief is what shapes behavior,
not the other way around. If a law demands
all citizens pay an income tax, I might pay it, but the behavior of paying taxes
won’t make me a country-loving patriot.
On the other hand, if I am taught the value of my country, it’s stands
on moral issues and the history of freedom as a God-given right, to be
protected at all costs…not only will I gladly pay my fair share of the tax, I’d
be more disposed to sacrificial service to preserve this nation’s right to
survive. My behavior follows my belief
system.
The Psalmist makes the point that
idols, when worshipped, offer little more than silence. They may have mouths, eyes, fingers, and legs
if their maker so chooses. But what good
are those physical traits without the actions that go with them? Legs that won’t carry you anywhere constitute
a malfunction. The same with eyes,
fingers, noses and all else. Belief in a
non-seeing, speaking, hearing, or acting idol is a non-starter.
Faith in the One True Living God,
however, is so different; He is all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful, and does
not just sit idly on a shelf. God is
involved in every moment of His creation’s existence. Unlike dumb idols, God, Yahweh, knows the
hearts, minds, and souls of each person, and His will is working out to
perfection every part of his perfect plan for our lives. The chief evidence for that is the
cross. There is not an idol that has
suffered and died for those who trust in them.
And resurrection demands that there was life in the first place; no idol
can claim that.
Idols are everywhere in any
culture. They are in shrines of Eastern
cultures, tacked to trees in primitive cultures, and show up as portfolio year-end
reports in affluent cultures. We put our
idols on the digital screens of all sizes, and even have contests to see which (American)
idols are best at entertaining us. We do
a great job of putting faces on what we worship…our idols are self-made.
But…is something a human makes with
his hands, or imagines with his mind, a god that can lift that human out of the
human condition of sin?
No…for that you need a God NOT
made with human hands.
For You Today
There is wise advice from the
Psalmist…don’t be empty by making a god to worship, crafting one out of precious
materials, or your imagination. You’ll
wind up just as worthless as an idol, shaped by humans hands, sitting on a
shelf. Instead, give God the glory He is
due.
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