365 Days with God - Day 106: The Ridiculousness of Idols

I'm giving myself a challenge. Read the Bible each day for a whole year, following the ESV Study Guide 1-year plan. Each day, I will post whatever God has revealed to me in His Word, and how it is changing me. A friend of mine once said that nothing has changed her life as much as reading the bible each day - and I'm excited for how this will change me. Join me on an adventure into the heart of God - and day by day, we can learn more about who He is and what that means to us!

- Andy Catts

Day 106, April 5, 2014

Readings: Psalm 106, Leviticus 13, Isaiah 13, Isaiah 14, 2 Corinthians 10:1-12

They made a calf in Horeb
and worshiped a metal image.
They exchanged the glory of God
for the image of an ox that eats grass.
They forgot God, their Savior,
who had done great things in Egypt,
wondrous works in the land of Ham,
and awesome deeds by the Red Sea. (Psalm 106:19-22)

When I read this, the first thing that pops into my mind is, "How utterly silly! We eat cows! They're big and slow, smell bad and seem to be literally created for the sole purpose of providing food and sustenance to humanity. Why in the world would you choose a cow as the object of your worship?"

So let's take a second and define worship. It's a word that, at least for me, conjures up images of praising God, bowing down to something, and performing whatever rituals are required by a specific religion. But I think it goes so much deeper than that. If it was merely that, why did the people of Israel need a golden cow? Couldn't they have just sung some songs about cows? Rejoiced in the cow's great...saving...majestic... okay, I'm not sure about that.

No, they felt the need to make a cow because they felt the need to have something tangible and present in their everyday lives to worship. They sacrificed their own wealth to make the cow by melting down their jewelry for gold. Worship of the cow filled a daily void in their lives, a reason for existence. And we do it too.

Someone once said about humanity that worship is like a hose. A hose that is constantly running, spraying on something at every moment. It never turns off. We are always worshiping something. We are always willing to sacrifice our wealth (spending money, time, mental & physical capacity) on something or someone. We are always filling voids in our life with people and things. We are worshiping whatever we look to in that moment to satisfy our desires.

It is so much more than a song. Worship is the moment-by-moment attempt to satisfy our needs and desires with something or someone. And we (I am included!) worship ridiculous things. When I am more concerned about the opinion of someone than the opinion of God, I am worshiping them. When I allow my own desires to drive my behavior instead of God's desires, I am worshiping myself. When I care more about owning a thing than I do about God's plan for me, I am worshiping that thing. When I seek fulfillment, satisfaction, meaning from anything other than God, I am worshiping that thing.

I am ridiculous. And I need to change the object of my worship. Day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, I need to be constantly refining that which defines my existence. To the only One who saves. Who satisfies. Who fulfills. Who gives meaning. Who is God.