Devotion

Deut. 32:21 "They (the children of Israel) have made me (God) jealous by what is no god and angered me with their worthless idols."

Imagine for a second that you are God. You make a creation, and are proud of your work. You make the most special part of the creation in your own image, and you use your own breath to give it life. It stands above and beyond any other thing you've created, and you hold it very dearly in your heart. You call your masterpiece "man". You give it the ability to think and chose, and then set it free and watch it. It (the created) decides you (the creator) didn't really make it after all. In fact, it lines up a bunch of false, dead, and useless idols and begins to show them honor, respect, commitment, allegiance, etc. You watch and cannot fathom how the truth and what works can be compared with and exchanged for a lie and what doesn't work.

We as human beings have a choice; to believe in a real God who created us, or to believe in a false god (or gods)that does not exist. It is comparing false with true. How many times in our lives do we get to do this? When we buy a cell phone, do we look at a line-up of phones, many of which do not work, and one of which does, and decide to pick the one that doesn't work? Do we look for a car and of all our choices decide on the one that doesn't run? Do we compare vacuum cleaners and pick one that doesn't work? Most of us would do our research on what works. God has given us the scriptures (many different authors over hundreds of years with the same message), fulfillment of prophecies, testimonies of the faithful, miracles and wonders, his creation, the lives of his disciples who were committed to his cause even in the face of gruesome deaths, and his son Jesus, among many others, as evidence of how real he is.

It never ceases to amaze me how much God must love us. As bone headed as sin has made us, he still holds us dear to his heart. When we reject him and make absurd choices, he loves us and forgives us and sends us his son so that we can kill him as a ransom for our own lives. He knows that we are lining up Jesus, a real living being, with idols and comparing them. He knows that those idols and ten cents still would not buy you as much as a cup of coffee at 7-11. He knows that Jesus has purchased eternal life for you. Come on folks, it is NO COMPARISON.

William Hiskey

Updated: 2/18/2003