Idols

What gods do you worship?

All who make idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit; their witnesses neither see nor know. And so they will be put to shame. Who would fashion a god or cast an image that can do no good? Look, all its devotees shall be put to shame; the artisans too are merely human. Let them all assemble, let them stand up; they shall be terrified, they shall all be put to shame. The ironsmith fashions it and works it over the coals, shaping it with hammers, and forging it with his strong arm; he becomes hungry and his strength fails, he drinks no water and is faint. The carpenter stretches a line, marks it out with a stylus, fashions it with planes, and marks it with a compass; he makes it in human form, with human beauty, to be set up in a shrine. He cuts down cedars or chooses a holm tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. Then it can be used as fuel. Part of it he takes and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Then he makes a god and worships it, makes it a carved image and bows down before it. Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he roasts meat, eats it and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, "Ah, I am warm, I can feel the fire!" The rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, bows down to it and worships it; he prays to it and says, "Save me, for you are my god!" They do not know, nor do they comprehend; for their eyes are shut, so that they cannot see, and their minds as well, so that they cannot understand. No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, "Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals, I roasted meat and have eaten. Now shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?" He feeds on ashes; a deluded mind has led him astray, and he cannot save himself or say, "Is not this thing in my right hand a fraud?" - Isaiah 44:9-20

Isaiah talks about the labors of man, the work of the carpenter and the ironsmith.  They believe that the product of their work is a god, worthy of worship.

We hear that and laugh, because we are more advanced than that, right?

We don't worship the wood we carve or the iron we smelt, turning them into statues.

But how do we feel about our own labors?  Don't we give them a place of high regard in our lives, making work the priority, treating it like it is our purpose?

It could be that we see ourselves as gods, or at least god-like.  We may not use our hands as artisans, making idols from wood or iron, but we make something of value out of our day.

And like God, when it is done, we say it was good.

Isaiah warns us about focusing on the wrong things in life.  All we have is a gift from God, and we should try to remind ourselves of that daily.  

The work we do is not for us, but for Him.  And it is through His grace and by His Spirit that we weather the storms and climb the mountains.

Today, let us make our work our worship offering.  

More to come...