Discipleship

Questions to Ask Our Idols

American Idol

In Jeremiah 14:22, God’s spokesman poses this question to expose the folly of idolatry:

Are there any among the false gods of the nations that can bring rain?

Centuries later, idolatry continues to thrive, which means that the prophet’s question should continue to be asked. In our modern context, it might sound like this:

  • Is there any amount of money that can bring lasting happiness?
  • Is there any amount of television programming that can provide real fulfillment?
  • Is there any video game console that can supply a true sense of accomplishment?
  • Is there any sporting event that can forever satisfy?
  • Is there any advancement at work that will justify the toll of an absent father?
  • Is there any level of success that will fill the void of arrogant self-centeredness?
  • Is there any sexual experience that is worth the cost of your marriage?
  • Is there any website that is equivalent in worth to decades of trust?
  • Is there any bargain or edge that is worth the cost of your integrity?
  • Is there any sinful indulgence that can justify alienation from God?
  • Is there anything in this world that can equal the value of your soul?

There are God-shaped holes in your heart with God-shaped voids that only God can fill (Eccl 3:11). Try to satisfy them with the trinkets of the world this week, and you might as well try to capture the wind (Eccl 1:2). Our idols cannot deliver what they promise any more than the false gods of Jeremiah’s day could bring rain.

Are you not he, O LORD our God? We set our hope on you, for you do all these things. (Jer 14:22)

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