Idol Talk
Why go to what is created for help when you can get help from its Creator?
Wood is created by God and then people carve an idol out of it. Stone is created by God and then people chisel an image from it. Any element of nature, whether animal or planet, is created by God and mythological beings are represented by it. Any imaginative power of the human mind is created by God and then people engineer false gods with it.
So why go to what is created for help when you can get help from its Creator?
Our god is that to which we think of turning first for help. Can you honestly say that you turned to God for help first when you read the e-mail that ruined your day, when you sensed you were starting to feel depressed again, when your hormones teased you to do what you didn’t want to, or when it was time to pass out accolades for your achievement?
Think how cheated God must feel when we choose the nosebleed seats other gods give us instead of the front row seats only the true God offers. As a matter of fact, the Bible says he gets jealous. He watches us flirt with false gods and something in our Maker and Redeemer clicks, making him wish we were giving him our attention instead. After God found his special people Israel dancing around the golden calf he said, “They made me jealous by what is no god” (Deuteronomy 32:21). God so deeply desires your attention and awe. God so desperately dreams of your commitment and companionship. Therefore he will not let false gods have the upper hand.
What worthless idol hits the target with each lightning bolt? What worthless idol can put a smile on your face by spinning a meteorite across the sky or painting a sunset in your corner of the world? What worthless idol knows your fears before they develop in you emotionally? No other being but God can do this. These are acts of courtship by a loving God who competes with worthless idols to win the hearts of helpless people. “He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy” (Acts 14:17). Then, once he has your attention, he wants to bring you to the greatest place of his love – the bloody cross and empty tomb of Jesus Christ – where he destroyed guilt forever and replaced it with joy.
If your friends insist that they don’t want to be religious or talk about the Bible, then just go with it. Forget the Bible passages and the church lingo for the moment, forget inviting them to church for the time being. Ask them about nature. Talk about the artwork of the constellations and the patchwork of the human body’s ability to heal. These testify to a kind and powerful God. Then when you have their interest, tell them the best news of all. This same God died and rose to save them.
PRAYER: Kind and generous God, how can I count the ways you love me? Your love is so frequent and so unforgetting, and my appreciation is not. Forgive my lack of focus and fill me with grateful joy. Express your love to others through me as your worker and witness of faith. Thank you for your everyday love, O God, and your greatest love through Jesus Christ. Amen.