Hear the word that the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel. Thus says the LORD:
____________ “Learn not the way of the nations,
_________________ nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens
_________________ because the nations are dismayed at them,
____________ for the customs of the peoples are vanity.
____________ A tree from the forest is cut down
_________________ and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.
____________ They decorate it with silver and gold;
_________________ they fasten it with hammer and nails
_________________ so that it cannot move.
____________ Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field,
_________________ and they cannot speak;
____________ they have to be carried,
_________________ for they cannot walk.
____________ Do not be afraid of them,
_________________ for they cannot do evil,
_________________ neither is it in them to do good.” (Jer 10:1-5)
Grasp the point behind this healthy dose of God-breathed perspective. God created you. God created trees. For you to cut down a tree, decorate it and worship it is foolish and vain! To take a good gift of God and pervert it to the point of worshiping the gift as greater, more precious, or more satisfying than the Creator is idolatry.
Let’s view our own good gifts through those lenses today.
God created my body. To be more concerned with my percentage of body fat than my besetting sin is foolish.
God created food. To crave the bread of this world more than I crave the bread of life is vain.
God created work. To be more dedicated to a secular job than my citizenship in heaven is senseless.
God created marriage. To take that covenant more seriously than I take my covenant with my Redeemer is shortsighted.
God created sex. To seek physical gratification with greater intensity than I seek my Father’s face is stupid.
Good gifts from God? Yes. Worthy of worship? No. No more than a scarecrow in a cucumber field. My body is not infinite. Food is not enduring. Work cannot redeem me. Marriage cannot sustain me. Sex cannot ultimately satisfy me.
____________ There is none like you, O LORD;
_________________ you are great, and your name is great in might.
____________ Who would not fear you, O King of the nations?
_________________ For this is your due;
____________ for among all the wise ones of the nations
_________________ and in all their kingdoms
_________________ there is none like you.
____________ They are both stupid and foolish;
_________________ the instruction of idols is but wood! (Jer 10:6-8)