what we worship
READ: Psalm 115:1-8
We resemble what we revere. When we worship money, we view ourselves and others in terms of our cash value. We see people as creditors, debtors, and customers, rather than as human beings made in the image of God. When we worship sex, we treat ourselves and others as dehumanized objects of sexual pleasure—good for nothing other than the next orgasm. And when we worship power, we turn every relationship into a contest between competitors, managers, and pawns.
The tragedy of becoming what we worship is that our false gods “have mouths but cannot speak, and eyes but cannot see. They have ears but cannot hear, and noses but cannot smell” (Psalm 115:5-6). When God says that we become like idols, He means that we become mute, blind, and deaf to what matters most.
That’s why God told Isaiah that idolatrous Israel would “not see with their eyes, nor hear with their ears, nor understand with their hearts and turn to [Him] for healing” (Isaiah 6:10). They had been serving idols for so long that they had become deaf to the very voice of God.
Nothing dulls our awareness of God as efficiently as the media. Movies and television shows ignore God in their pursuit of money, sex, and power. Have you ever heard an onscreen character say, “Let’s pray about this” or “I wonder what God’s Word says about our problem”?
We regain our ear for the music of God when we destroy our idols and practice living in His presence. Karl Barth explained that we become “like a latecomer slipping shamefacedly into creation’s choir . . . which has never ceased its praise, but merely suffered and sighed . . . that in inconceivable folly and ingratitude its living center man does not hear its voice, its response, its echoing of the divine glory.” Better late than never. —Mike Wittmer
NEXT:
What prevents you from hearing God’s voice? What steps can you take to worship Him with all you are and possess?
Originally from Our Daily Journey
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