O Lord, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in time of distress, to you the nations will come from the ends of the earth and say, “Our fathers possessed nothing but false gods, worthless idols that did them no good.” – Jeremiah 16:19
We like to call ourselves sophisticated. We trust in scientific theory and read the Wall Street Journal. We subscribe to the theory, secretly or not, that mankind has evolved intellectually and that we are far superior to our simple-minded, superstitious ancestors. We smirk when we read how they worshiped man-made gods.
Yet we’re on our knees worshiping more subtle, but just as tangible, false gods—the “isms” of our day: workaholism, as if the fruit of endless labors will finally bring satisfaction; legalism, as if being good and performing flawlessly will secure peace; intellectualism, as if we could get so smart that we would finally feel fulfilled; and materialism, as if some possession could bring us joy.
The first step in the worship of false gods is exchanging truth for lies. “You will not surely die,” was the serpent’s lie to Eve in the garden. Cling to the truth. Once it’s discarded, you’ll believe anything.
The truth of the Bible doesn’t change with our circumstances of life; rather, it defines and weeds out all falsehood. Remember Jesus’ words, “…the truth will set you free.”
– Steve Arterburn
A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on. – Sir Winston Churchill
