Saturday, September 23, 2006

"What's In Your Wallet?"

“What’s In Your Wallet?”

What would you think of a man who carried his god around in his wallet, pulling him to bow down to him or talk to him at appropriate times? Never talked back, never did anything, never acted like you’d think a god would act. My bet is that you’d give him plenty of room. “I mean, really,” you’d probably say to me, “How can that thing be god if he can carry him around in his wallet?”

Truth is we carry around our gods in pockets and purses and don’t even realize it. C’mon, admit it – the things that tend to rule our lives are held in our hands or, if too big to physically hold, they possess our minds. God spoke through the prophet Isaiah about this.

5“To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal? 6Some people pour out their silver and gold and hire a craftsman to make a god from it. Then they bow down and worship it! 7They carry it around on their shoulders, and when they set it down, it stays there. It cannot even move! And when someone prays to it, there is no answer. It has no power to get anyone out of trouble. Isaiah 46:5 - 7 (New Living Translation)

So what’s the job description for god? What’s the resume require? Let me give you some suggestions.

If you can contain it, it is not god.
If you can understand it, it is not god.
If you can create it, it is not god.
If you can control it, it is not god.
If you cannot depend on it, it is not god.
If it changes, it is not god.

Now think through the things at top priority. We may not literally bow down to modern “gods” but they rule our lives. Apply these tests and see if they stand up. Money is god to many. Can we understand, create, control, and contain it? Can we depend on it? Does it change? 6 for 6 and it doesn’t qualify as god. Run through the others people put at the top of their lives: power, popularity, success, cars, sports, beauty, possessions, people, and on and on. None qualify.

Do the same with the real and only God, Jesus. Can we understand Him? Not a chance. Can we create Him? No, He created us. Can we control Him? HA! Much as we think we’d like to at times, we can’t. People couldn’t even when He walked here. Can we contain Him? The entire universe could not. Can we depend on Him to be there for us, true to His promises? Absolutely. Does He change? His character, personality, and purposes never, ever change. HE PASSES!

That being true, don’t you think it a good idea for us to stop carrying around god and allow Him to carry us? As it should be.




Boldly, Herb

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