Who's first?

Some people say, quite rightly, that idols have no actual existence, that there’s nothing to them, that there is no God other than our one God, that no matter how many of these so-called gods are named and worshiped they still don’t add up to anything but a tall story. They say—again, quite rightly—that there is only one God the Father, that everything comes from him, and that he wants us to live for him. Also, they say that there is only one Master—Jesus the Messiah—and that everything is for his sake, including us. Yes. It’s true. (I Corinthians 8:4-6 MSG)

Paul is about to deal with the issue in the Corinthian church related to the 'permissibility' of eating meat when it had been offered at the altar of an idol. While this is not our concern this morning, the preface to his instruction to the church on that subject carries some very important points: 1) God is the one true God; and 2) the other 'gods' that exist in mind or theory all amount to nothing but a big fat zero. There is no other God, no better source of truth, and no other answer to our questions.

Idols might get 'created' by our hands - like the golden calf of Israelite fame (Exodos 32). Idols may be made out of fortunes one amasses over a lifetime, or the treasured 'toys' we gather in order to 'enjoy life to the fullest'. Idols could even be the people we hold with such esteem that we place them on a pedestal, fall prey to their every word, and almost bow at their feet. Still others will regard some TV, story, or movie 'star' as an 'idol' of sorts, buying all the paraphernalia they can to 'imitate' what they see in those 'images' while the creators of these items get richer and richer. Regardless of the 'type' of idol, ALL of them together don't even equal more than zero!

There's nothing to them - no truer words could be spoken, yet we continue to 'make idols' of all kinds of things, peoples, and imaginings, don't we? One God - period. Yet there are many 'gods' we must deal with every day, aren't there? The closer we draw to Jesus, the more we may be aware of having made a 'god' of some things in our lives. For instance, we realize we have been believing we make all this money, so we want to spend it as we see fit, yet we forget God created us with the very talents that help us to work for that money, opens the doors for those jobs, and makes a way for us to be 'blessed' beyond measure. 

Anything we elevate to a higher level than we see God in our lives has become the 'god' we focus on the most. Truth be told, we ALL deal with this issue and must constantly guard against anything rising to such a level of importance or worship in our lives. God MUST be first in our lives, but it must be evident in more than our words - our practices must reveal he is indeed in that place. Just sayin!