god with a little g

I recently heard David Platt (author of the book “Radical”) share one of the most convicting messages I’ve ever heard.  He read the well-known story from Exodus 32 how the Israelites created a golden calf to worship while Moses was on Mount Sinai.  Platt then stated that this is a mirror to our own hearts today.

Even though we don’t worship actual golden calves, a consumer-oriented America feeds our self-centered nature to want to worship a god that we have created instead of the God we see in scripture.  Sure we want to go to heaven when we die, but we want to have fun now on earth.  When we seek temporal pleasures we water down God’s power and to dilute His relevance to our lives.  The only requirement to celebrate our faith becomes simple religious motions once a week on Sundays.

We must not ignore that there is a significant spiritual battle waging war for our very souls every day.  And our enemy, the devil, still tempts us to take a bite of the apple today.  Become your own god.  Do what you want.  You deserve it.

In Exodus 32, the people bowed down and worshiped the calf, presenting sacrifices and offerings to a piece of metal.  And then they indulged in sin and revelry.  It looked and felt like religion, but it was just an excuse to do what they wanted.

I must say this is a big struggle for me.  And in reality, it will always be.  Sometimes I wish I didn’t have the luxury of free will because I continually mess up.  I make decisions that feed my own desires.  Entertainment.  Comfort.  Human love.  Respect.  Even food.  These are my idols and in the end they are worth nothing.  Feeding my desire to have these things replaces my desire for God.  It’s so easy to lose sight of what’s important.  It’s so easy to become jaded and take for granted that my life was purchased at the cross.


And what happens to me is my whole life gets out of wack.  I'm unfulfilled, I loose hope, I become much more anxious, emotional, negative and controlling.  I embrace the dark side.  I am never satisfied.  But God is forever faithful.  He never lets me go and eventually I come back.  Whoa is life different!  I don't need entertainment because He is my complete joy.  I'm find comfort knowing that I'm living in His will.  My love, respect and acceptance are found in the unfailing love that Christ displayed on the cross and the promise that God is for me.  My food is His word.

We need to be broken.  When we fail to worship with humility, we fail to worship the God of heaven.

Without even realizing it, our worship can be corrupted in the same way.  We twist the Almighty God of scripture into a god that is so loving and accepting we can approach him on our own terms, when we want, how we want and it doesn’t really effect our lives that much.  Whereas if we really worshipped the King of Kings, the God who is full of wrath and justice yet loving enough to pour His wrath upon His own son so that we could be forgiven --- this God will bring us to our knees in sincere humility.  We should be continually blown away!  Every day, even every second, should be lived for eternity – an eternity that has nothing to do with our own selfish desires but with loving and serving the most holy God who will always be the only one worthy of our worship.

- Rich