September 24

Isaiah 43:14-45:10

Ephesians 3

Psalm 68:1-18

Proverbs 24:1-2

Isaiah 44:14-20

He cuts down cedars; he selects the cypress and the oak; he plants the pine in the forest to be nourished by the rain. Then he uses part of the wood to make a fire. With it he warms himself and bakes his bread. Then—yes, it's true—he takes the rest of it and makes himself a god to worship! He makes an idol and bows down in front of it! He burns part of the tree to roast his meat and to keep himself warm. He says, "Ah, that fire feels good." Then he takes what's left and makes his god: a carved idol! He falls down in front of it, worshiping and praying to it. "Rescue me!" he says. "You are my god!" Such stupidity and ignorance! Their eyes are closed, and they cannot see. Their minds are shut, and they cannot think. The person who made the idol never stops to reflect, "Why, it's just a block of wood! I burned half of it for heat and used it to bake my bread and roast my meat. How can the rest of it be a god? Should I bow down to worship a piece of wood?" The poor, deluded fool feeds on ashes. He trusts something that can't help him at all. Yet he cannot bring himself to ask, "Is this idol that I'm holding in my hand a lie?"

Ephesians 3:12, 20

Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God's presence... Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.

Yesterday, we heard from Keesha on how the idols that we turn to for comfort are nothing more than cheap impostors.

The reading today in Isaiah continues to rebuke the practice of idol worship. Think about the impostor "god" described in Isaiah 44: a piece of wood that cannot see or hear or think or do anything. How can we take a piece of wood, use some of it to make a fire to warm ourselves and cook our food, and then use the rest of it to make a god that we turn to in times of need? As Isaiah said, it's stupid and ignorant and foolish. We may think that we are better than this person described, because we are smart enough to know that a wooden idol has no power to save. But we're really not that smart at all. We've simply traded our idols in for different ones, making us just as foolish.

I couldn't help but think back to these idols when reading Ephesians 3. The real one true God deserves all glory. And because of Jesus, we are able to approach God directly and He will do amazing things through us beyond what our imaginations can conceive. Why would we settle for anything less when we have direct access to the Lord, our God, the Holy One of Israel, our Savior, our Redeemer, Creator and King? I can't think of a reason either.