What is the longest you have gone without giving a thought to God? 3 hours, 3 days, 3 weeks or longer? If you ask anyone, myself included, you will hear that life is busy. There are endless things we like to do, and a few we have to do to get through each day, and we still often feel like we barely made a dent sometimes. Is everything we are doing each day worthwhile? Do you ever find yourself saying, ‘well that was a waste of time,’ though we are usually more critical of others wasting our time than us wasting our own time. If we are not even giving a thought about God, much less talking to him for long periods of time, where are our thoughts and attention focused? What do we value most and give our time and energy toward…what do we worship?
You shall have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:3
It has been stated by many people that we all worship someone/something, and I have found this to be true as well. If anyone is in doubt as to what they worship, just take a look at what they put their time, money, passion, and energy into and it should be fairly obvious. For many it may be striving for money, fame, or power of some sort, and much of this goes back to the worship of self. Just scan through the most popular Instagram feeds and it is almost always a bunch of selfies, attempting to make ‘me’ look as good as possible to everyone else. This essentially says…’I worship my own image, maybe you should worship me too!’ This permeates most every aspect of life and media if you ever look very long into pop culture. I heard someone ask recently how long we can go without checking our phone, or how we feel when we are without it. We don’t have to look far to find other things upon which we have become dependent.
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’” Luke 4:8
Other symptoms of a growth in selfishness in society are increased entitlement, people quick to anger, increased criticism and lack of care for other humans, excessive concern about what others think of me, misguided priorities, and the list goes on. With an increase of our on-demand culture, I think we are losing the ability to patiently wait for anything. Even when Christians don’t get the answer they want from God, they may decide to ‘do it my way’ anyway. I find myself laughing at how quickly I can become impatient anymore, and I realize that I shouldn’t put myself in situations where I need to rush. Instead of blaming others, I should be blaming myself. Instead of worshiping my own self-interests, I should be listening to God to guide me in where I should go. You think we would realize our own faults by now.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6
So, take a little inventory into where we are investing the resources we have been given, and what fruit has come of it. Take time to talk about this with those you care about, or anyone who will listen. Change the attitude of worship from the created to the Creator and priorities will fall into proper perspective. May God continue to reveal His worth to you as you seek Him!
Yours in Christ,
Clark
