Few things aggravate me more than wasting time. I combine trips so I don’t have to drive the same street more than once. I get furious when I’m stuck behind slow moving traffic. I’m even a big fan of foods that are “instant.”
But the irony is I fill my life with wasteful things.
So often I am content making decisions based on desire, fear, or convenience. I all too often walk around assuming that the things I set up in my life as important actually are. But as they say, not everything is created equal:
Half of the wood he burns in the fire;
over it he prepares his meal,
he roasts his meat and eats his fill.
He also warms himself and says,
“Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.”
From the rest he makes a god, his idol;
he bows down to it and worships.
He prays to it and says,
“Save me; you are my god.” (Isaiah 44:16-17)
This is exactly how I am tempted to live my life. I have been so eager to set up gods out of work, friends, influence, or perfection that it never even occurred to me that I was wasting my time. But I was. All of the things I think of as important are worthless if I miss the big picture – having God at the center of my life.
How can anything we create be a god? Saying “this is god” doesn’t make it true. Because if it did, what a small god it would be.
