The Great Exchange
“Has a nation ever changed its gods?
(Yet they are no gods at all.) But my people have exchanged their Glory for
worthless idols. Be appalled at his, O heavens, and shudder with great horror,”
declares the LORD.
Jeremiah 2:11
Currently there’s a
Yoplait yogurt ad that features a women’s book club. Ladies are sharing stories in a living room
when one woman notices the table of goodies and faces a choice. Will she choose
a heart-shaped cookie or Yoplait yogurt? She doesn’t miss what the advertisers
define as a swap•por•tu•ni•ty. She swaps the opportunity to grab a high-calorie
snack for the 90-calorie yogurt. Swap•por•tu•ni•ty.
What a swap•por•tu•ni•ty
is for snacks is appalling sin when we exchange God’s greatness and glory for
other gods. Israel abandoned the one true God for worthless idols, and we have
to confess that we do the same.
Our idols may not look
like a golden calf, Baal, or Asherah, but the exchange is as horrific. When
someone or something takes God’s rightful place as Lord of our lives, it
becomes an idol. Food, sex, entertainment, health, money, achievement, even
good things like family and service to the Kingdom can become idols when we
exchange them for God and His glory.
The question is asked,
“Who’s the greatest?” And we answer rightly, “God, of course.”
Fill in the blanks and see
if your answer measures plumb with your life:
- When I’m stressed out I ________________________.
- I’m happiest when ______________________________.
- My number one priority right now is to ___________.
Be honest. I don’t know
about you, but my answers pain me. I want to always say I run to God when I’m
stressed, I’m happiest when I’m aware of His presence and approval, and my
number one priority is to love God and then people, but what I want to say and
how I live can be very different.
If you also have to confess
that God is not always the One who is sitting on the throne of your heart,
through Christ we’re given undeserved opportunity to swap our sin for His
grace. If we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will swap our sin
and unrighteousness for His forgiveness and purification (1 John 1:9).
He>i: Have
you exchanged God and His greatness for a worthless idol(s)? If so, what needs
to take place next for your heart to be His royal throne?
The higher
a man is in grace, the lower he will be in his own esteem.
Charles Spurgeon
grace and peace,
Lenae
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