what do you worship?
by sheridan voysey
Posted under
christian living,
consumerism,
daily devotional,
family,
finances,
friendship,
God,
God's presence,
greed,
idolatry,
Jesus,
physical needs,
pride,
resurrection,
self-image,
sexuality,
sin,
worship (5 comments)
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Romans 1:18-32
Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship Him as God or even give Him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused (Romans 1:21).
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Read Romans 12 and 13 and note how worshiping the true God reverses the inhuman, sinful behaviors outlined in 1:24-31.
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What are the most popular “gods” worshiped today? How are they destructive? How have you fallen for their deceptive promises?
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“Whether it’s a supernatural being . . . science, money, wisdom, information, ritual, power or love,” says social commentator Hugh Mackay, “most of us assign the status of god to something in our lives.” The truth is: Modern, secular people still worship something even if they’ve abandoned belief in God.
The first chapter of Romans describes this human religious impulse powerfully. Its message is threefold:
1. There is a God, and He has revealed Himself. “For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see His invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature” (Romans 1:20).
2. People are designed to worship. When we refuse to worship God (Romans 1:21), we don’t stop worshiping. Instead, we put other “gods” in His place (Romans 1:25). In ancient times, these gods were embodied in carvings of people, birds, and animals (Romans 1:23). Today’s “gods,” Hugh Mackay noted, can include anything from money and power to love.
3. Worshiping any other god will destroy us. The irony is, while we thought we were “wise” in rejecting the true God, we actually became “confused” (Romans 1:21- 22). While we thought other gods would bring us life, they actually brought us death—resulting in distorted sexuality (Romans 1:26-27), greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, and pride (Romans 1:28-32). Worshiping the true God makes us fully human (Genesis 1:27; 2 Corinthians 3:18). Worshiping false gods makes us inhuman.
So, what do you worship? Be assured that worshiping anything other than the true God Himself will destroy you. Who will rescue us from our destructive idols? Jesus, who entered our darkness and died for us (Romans 4:25). Through His resurrection we can be raised to new life now and forever! (Romans 8:10-11).
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: Jeremiah 1:1-9
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I am sorry to say that for a couple of years I got hooked on gambling. I see it now as worshiping an idol. I thought about it all the time and would do whatever I could to get to the casino to sit for hours in front of a machine and pray that it would treat me well. I praise God he brought me up out of that life.
So glad you shared, pampauley65. It’s so easy for any of us to try and fill our God “space” with stuff that ultimately will be destructive and unsatisfying. To see how God moved in your life is inspiring to me and I’m sure many others in the ODJ community!
Ditto. What a great story of relinquishing a false god that offered life but brought death instead.
Thanks pampauley65.
This is a wise post, Sheridan. It’s tragically ironic that the gods we suppose will save us are the very thing that will destroy us. Why won’t we learn?
We really do get hoodwinked into believing that these gods bring us life, don’t we?
Thanks Mike.