Psalm 135:15-18
The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by the hands of men. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but they cannot see; they have ears, but cannot hear, nor is there breath in their mouths. Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them. NIV
Rick Warren sends out a daily devotional e-mail and I’m on the distribution list. I don’t always read it, but, when I do, I never fail to find something that blesses me or gets me thinking. Recently, he was talking about idols. When I found these verses this morning, his point rang through my head. I didn’t go back and look it up, but Warren said something like, “anything we put before our relationship with God is an idol.”
If I worry, I am not trusting God. I am not being obedient. I am putting worry before my relationship to God. Worry becomes an idol.
These verses are very clear on the consequences of that decision: those who make them will be like them.
When I worry, I turn myself inward. I have a mouth, but I don’t use it to speak encouragement to others. I don’t use my eyes to see the hurt that others around me are experiencing, I don’t hear their requests for help, and I don’t take action as a living, breathing servant of God.
When I put anything else before my relationship to God, I am sub-optimizing both my experience here, and my ability to make a difference for the kingdom.
That’s a bad decision, and that’s what I’ll think about today.
365 Days of Peace 