Tuesday, April 10, 2018
The idols
of the nations 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 mouths but cannot breathe.
And those who make idols are just like them, as are all who trust in
them. Psalm 135:15-18(NLT)
Do not love
this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do
not have the love of the Father in you. For
the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything
we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from
this world. And this world is fading
away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live
forever. 1 John 2:15-17(NLT)
Forty years ago rock
singer Bob Dylan wrote:
You might be a rock ’n’ roll addict prancing
on the stage
You might have drugs at your command, women in a cage
You may be a businessman or some high-degree thief
They may call you Doctor or they may call you Chief
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody[2]
You might have drugs at your command, women in a cage
You may be a businessman or some high-degree thief
They may call you Doctor or they may call you Chief
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody[2]
What Bob Dylan
understood is how we humans are hard-wired to worship. And, despite all the choices we have of what
to do with our time and energy, the choices are amazingly simple and clear cut;
we either worship God or we worship ourselves as god.
What? Explain that a little, please.
Whether your
choice of idol is money, sex, power, personal accomplishments, being a groupee
for the next American Idol, or carving-up a tree into a totem pole, the whole idea
of a crafted, carved, accumulated, experiential, historically-meaningful idol
is still an idolatry. And an idol does
not see, hear, or speak; an idol is lesser than its creator/carver. So, anytime you encounter an idol in your
life, understand that you have created it, and therefore, you are its god.
Simpler translation: when anything other than God is given greater
significance than God in your life you have become an idolater!
Or, as the apostle
John put it, you do not love God, you love this world.
The sad thing
about that is this world is passing away; you miss the eternal for something
that will fade, fizzle, and disappear.
And that’s a really poor choice.
For You Today
Giving up the
world’s stuff in order to serve Jesus is a matter of discarding the idols that
cannot see, hear, speak or have the life to breathe…in favor the life offered
by He who sees all, hears all, knows all, and will live forever.
Not much of a
contest there!
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