09/12/2007
Isaiah 44: 13-15,
19-20 (NIV)
The carpenter measures with a line
and makes an outline with a marker;
he roughs it out with chisels
and marks it with compasses.
He shapes it in the form of a man,
a man in all his glory,
that it may dwell in a shrine.
He cut down cedars,
or perhaps took a cypress or oak.
He let it grow among the trees of the forest,
or planted a pine, and the rain made
it grow.
It is fuel for burning
some of it he takes and warms
himself,
he kindles a fire and bakes bread.
But he also fashions a god and worships it;
he makes an idol and bows down to it.
No one stops to think,
no one has the knowledge or
understanding to say,
“Half of it I used for fuel;
I even baked bread over its coals,
I roasted meat and I ate.
Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left?
Shall I bow down to a block of
wood?”
He feeds on ashes, a deluded heart misleads him;
he cannot save himself, or say,
“Is not this thing in my right hand
a lie?”
As I read these words, I was struck by the reality of them. Today, so many people want to fashion a god for themselves. Perhaps they don’t make a figure out of gold or wood. They probably don’t bow down to this figure. But the god they have fashioned in their minds and hearts is just as false as the golden or wooden idol mentioned by Isaiah.
People want a god that responds to them, that is, who is available when needed, but otherwise will leave them alone. They like the idea of a god of love, but despise the idea of a god that requires obedience. They want a god that will provide them with health and prosperity, but hate the god who says “sell all you have, give to the poor, and follow me.” And sadly, those who create a god for themselves don’t seem to have the sense to understand that a god that they have created is only a lie.
It is easy to look around at others and wonder how they could be so foolish, but these words are sure: If you create any idea of god that differs from who HE really is, then you have created an idol.
Examine your life and what you believe about God. Search the scriptures and pray that God will reveal himself to you and that you may remove any idea about Him that is false. God has revealed himself in the form of Jesus. “The word became flesh and lived among men.” Look to Jesus. Learn about Jesus. Pattern your life after Jesus and you will not be found worshiping a lie.
Jeff Justus
Cleff Publishing
www.cleffpublishing.com
©2007 Cleff Publishing, all rights reserved.
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