Giving Thanks to God Alone
“For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.” (Romans 1:21-23)
When reading a passage like this, we often skip the warning. We imagine an ancient culture making golden statues and foolishly worshipping them. We feel safe knowing that because of our superior thinking, and because we live in such modern times, that we are safe from such obvious sin. However, with a little more introspection, we realize that the enemy is more cunning than ever, and that idolatry is not only present in our time, but thriving.
We must be more vigilant to see the idols around us and be prepared to fight the modern idolatry that is constantly vying for God’s place within our hearts. I challenge you to take the time today and ask yourself these four simple questions; Where do I spend my time? Where do I spend my money? Where do I get my joy? What is always on my mind? We need to realize that the good things in our life come from God and nothing else, and we should be thankful and give praise to him alone.
For instance, if we place our trust in manmade things like political parties and we start to think that our safety, our future, and our joy hinge on decisions that failing mortal men make, then those political parties are in danger of becoming idols. If we find ourselves increasingly relying on and gaining joy from things that will perish with this world, like our 401K and a healthy bank account, then we are in danger of idolizing these lesser things.
Many times, we fall in this way because we believe in our own wisdom. The Bible tells us in Romans that as men claimed to be wise, they became fools and started exchanging the immortal God for things of men. Idolatry, like many sins, can creep in while we are distracted by things of this world, and looking to other men for answers. We must stay rooted in the word of God to gain our wisdom, and never stop searching ourselves to find things trying to take God’s rightful place.
Idolatry is alive and well, but so is grace. Sin and death have been defeated, and all idols will fall. I thank God for his grace every time I examine myself. My prayer this week is that we avoid becoming futile in our thinking and wise in our own eyes. May we see our lives through discerning eyes, and thank God alone for his earthly and eternal gifts.