The Lie

 "The poor, deluded fool feeds on ashes. He trusts something that can't help him at all. Yet he cannot bring himself to ask, 'Is this idol that I'm holding in my hand a lie?' " Isaiah 44:20

The above Scripture is part of a rebuke that the Father spoke to His people Israel in response to their having given their hearts and loyalty to idols made of wood and stone. They, like their forefathers in the desert, who'd constructed a calf of gold to worship, had "exchanged their glorious God for a grass eating ox." He calls those who do likewise, "deluded fools." They hold fast to man made idols, seeking from them what only God Himself can do. They could not bring themselves to admit the lie that they have believed. Can we dare to ask as to just how much we in the American church have been like them?

John Calvin said something to the effect that "from birth, we are master craftsmen of idols." We, the church, have certainly crafted a seeming galaxy of them, and hold just as tightly to them. Whatever they are, financial security, relationships, children, careers, political figures, parties, and philosophies, and yes, ministry, we are being brought to the place of seeing the futility of all of them to do for us what only He can do. He is exposing every place where we have been "deluded fools." Where has He been doing so in you? Where is He seeking to break the death grip on whatever idol it is that you've been putting your trust in, that you've been worshipping?

Here's a question for each of us to ponder; from where and from whom do we find our meaning, our reason for being?

If you've been a part of His Body for any length of time, you'll likely come up with the quick answer, "from God!" Yet is that so? Does our life activity give proof to the statement? Would those who know us best agree with the testimony we give?

I can speak on this from sad experience. It has always been my statement that my life is centered on Him, and I fully believed it was. Yet, when I lost my ministry for a time during the course of my separation and divorce, I was devastated. I had allowed my identity and meaning to be found in that which I did and was. Without them, I no longer felt myself to have value or meaning. It was in that time that He began to expose the lie I'd been gripping in my hand. He was exposing that He wasn't really the center of my life and being. Being a pastor was. I had allowed something, something good, to take the place of the One who is not only the best, but all. It is painful to admit it, but it was fully true. I was a deluded fool, and it took the fall of my idol(s) to show me that I was. It was there that I found my real identity could only be found in Him.

We have entered into days where our idols, your idols, are going to be exposed. The lies we've clung to as our salvation are going to be shown to be powerless to help us. Our many delusions, as well as our foolishness are going to come to light, and we'll be faced with the choice of confessing, repenting, and releasing our hold upon them, or maintaining a literal death grip. Have you made the choice beforehand, or do you still waver?

All of our idols are becoming ash in our hands. May we turn to the One, the only one worthy of worship. Let's renounce the lies we've believed in and embrace the One who is Truth. Let's be fools no more.

Blessings,

Pastor O