PLEASE READ THIS FIRST: Psalm 115
What do you sense the Lord saying to you in this passage?
“Those who make idols will be like them… all who trust in them.” (Psalm 115:8)
We don’t think about idols much today, but we have them too.
An idol is something that we look to as worthy of our devotion.
Our idols are things (or people) we love and serve – money, success, pleasure.
Usually it’s the idea behind the idol: what it does for us, how it makes us feel.
The psalmist describes peoples’ idols as lifeless, powerless, useless.
They also say that we become like the idol we seek and serve.
We become like what we pursue, we are shaped by our desires.
Our love for work makes us workaholics; our love for alcohol… alcoholics.
Our love for a celebrity leads us to dress and act and think like them.
We were made to be like God; Jesus shows us what that looks like, and to be like him.
Anything less, and we become less than we were meant to be.
What (or who) is your life becoming like, and how is that like Jesus, like God?
Our idols and ideas cannot bring us the LIFE we desire.
Only as we seek God can we flourish (115:14), as we become more like Jesus, like God.
PRAYER
Lord, I don’t think I have idols, but I certainly have things I value and pursue. Help me to see that these are my idols, and that they CANNOT give me the life I am looking for.
Buddhists and aboriginal people have a sense of God as spirit – beyond us – that god is not fixed by a human construct. God is beyond us – not bound by time or space as the idol creators who have their gods represented. Also beyond the constellations, the stars, the sun and moon. Yet God is not beyond us if we accept Jesus as the Son of God. He is so close and blesses us with the HS – the comforter. Thank you for being an awesome and incomprehensible God, yet my heavenly Father through Jesus. Your grace to me – that is the blessing: “he will bless those who fear the Lord—small and great alike”.
Why am I here? What is my purpose? What do I strive for?
I belong to Him and need to serve Him always on my journey of learning. In order to be happy I need Him. Happiness is found in Christ alone. All other forms of happiness are temporary, fleeting, false. In Him my hope is found. Lead me and guide me daily by Your Spirit Lord to serve You in all I do. Others need to see You living in me. I will continue to bless You. You are the fountain of LIFE!
He brought me to His banqueting table (echo)
He brought me to His banqueting table (echo)
And His banner over me is love
I am my beloved’s and He is mine (echo)
I am my beloved’s and He is mine (echo)
And His banner over me is love
Yes His banner over me is love
We can feel the love of God in this place
We believe Your goodness we receive Your grace
We delight ourselves at Your table oh God
You do all things well just look at our lives