There’s got to be More than this

Imagine a man who has been coughing constantly. This cough keeps him up half of the night, and it interrupts any conversation he has that’s more than a minute or two long. The cough is so unrelenting that he goes to the doctor.

The doctor runs his tests.

Lung cancer.

Now imagine the doctor knows how tough the news will be to handle. So he doesn’t tell his patient about the cancer. Instead, he writes a prescription for some strong cough medicine and tells him that he should be feeling better soon. The man is delighted with this prognosis. And sure enough, he sleeps much better that night. The cough syrup seems to have solved his problem.

Meanwhile, very quietly, the cancer is eating away at his body. Cancer is the real problem; coughing is only a symptom.

Every week people come to church coughing.

• We’re struggling with something.
• We’re hurting about something .
• We’re stressing about something.
• Cheating.
• Lusting.
• Spending.
• Worrying.
• Quitting.
• Medicating.
• Avoiding.
• Searching.

These are only symptoms of a much deeper problem. We spend a lot of times treating the symptoms but not a whole lot time of dealing with the real  issue – idolatry. There are over 2000 references in Bible that refer to idolatry. God is making this a big deal.

One of those verses is Exodus 20: ⁴ “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea.

You might be thinking, “I don’t make any idols of any kind, I don’t make any images of anything.  I don’ t have any little Buddhas sitting in my house. I have don’t have any statues that I bow to. I’m not like King Nebuchadnezzar who made an idol 90 ft. tall and made every one worship him.  I don’t kneel down at golden statues . I don’t bow down to carved images.”

Idolatry is the number one issue in the Bible, and that should raise caution signals for us. Idolatry comes into every book. More than fifty of the laws in the first five books are aimed at this issue. In all of Judaism, it was one of only four sins to which the death penalty was attached. To the Jews, idolatry was a big deal. But that’s them. That was written in a time where they made images of gold.  That was a time they made a living selling idols. – that’s not relevant to me and the time I am living in.

What if it’s not about statues? What if the gods of here-and-now are not cosmic deities with strange names? What if they take identities that are so ordinary that we don’t recognize them as gods at all? What if we do our “kneeling” and our “bowing” with our imaginations, our checkbooks, our search engines, our calendars?

What if it is true that every sin you are struggling with, every discouragement you are dealing with—even the lack of purpose you’re living with is because of idolatry? What if we are selling ourselves out to these gods without really realizing we are doing it? The bottom line is there are other god’s clamoring for your attention. Clamoring for your time. Clamoring for you money. Clamoring for a certain image.  They all want first place in your life. We become a slave to whatever god will worship.  They are at war. They are powerful. Sure will power are no match for these the power these god’s possess.

What on earth are you going to do? Because what god you allow to have first place in your life will be the god that dictates what you do, what relationships you have, the decisions you make,  the dreams you have, or what you hope or wish to become.

This brilliant ad gives a sad picture of how what we worship dictates our life. (click here to watch this 20 second video)

Scripture:

Joshua 24:14-15

 “So fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone. But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”\

Joshua presents with them with four options of what gods they can choose to worship. He goes on to say, “then choose today who you will serve.”

What puzzles me about God is that He still lets us choose.  Why doesn’t He just make us follow Him? Why doesn’t he just make us serve him? Why doesn’t he just make us obey Him? The answer to those questions are hidden in the question – He wants US to choose.He has already chosen you. He demonstrated that when he allowed the world to nail him to the cross and leave him for dead. While you were yet a sinner Christ died for you. He is hoping  you will choose Him.

We choose everyday what and/or who we are going to worship.  We choose everyday what or who we are going to serve. We choose everyday what or who we are going to obey. We all worship something or someone everyday.  Why is that true? Because you and I are created to worship.  Since time began we were created to worship. Adam and Eve were created to worship God. That’s all they had to do and that’s all there were created to do. But what happened? Both Adam and Eve wanted to be god. Their choice dictated the history of the world. Whatever god YOU choose to worship will dictate the choices you make. We need to understand that all of us are  worshippers.  Even atheist’s worship something or someone. Liberals worship something or someone. Conservatives worship something or someone.

The things that we worship are called idols. Idols bring temporary happiness. Idols make us feel good for the moment. But idols never satisfy the longing in our heart.

60 minutes did an interview with Tom Brady which help us understand this point (click here to watch this 1 minute interview)

He has 3 super bowl rings, makes 6 million dollars a year and he says, “God, there has got to be more than this.” Then the interview asks him, “what’s the answer?” He has accomplished more in his life that he had ever dreamed but he still has the nagging feeling that there is got to be more than this. None of those accomplishments are bad but none of those accomplishments are satisfying the longing in his heart.

Ecclesiastes 2:24 reminds us …..

So I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work. Then I realized that these pleasures are from the hand of God.

The scriptures teach that pleasures are good as long we don’t turn them into a god (and idol).

1 John 2:16 reminds us …….

For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.

We are the ones that turn them into gods (idols). The things around us were meant to be enjoyed not worshipped. Our accomplishments were meant to be enjoyed not worshipped. Our possessions were meant to be enjoyed not worshipped. But because of this longing in our heart to worship something or someone we grab onto whatever makes us feel good in the moment.

So, how do you know what god’s are warring for your heart?

You need the following questions of yourself:

What are you most disappointed with? What we are most disappointed with often reveals where we have put our hope. Where we put our hope reveals our god.

• If your kids are disappointing you – maybe you are putting your hope in them
• If your job is disappointing you – maybe you are putting your hope it.
• If your spouse is disappointing you – maybe you are putting your hope I your them.
• If you are disappointed with your house, your car, your wage, or your lack of stuff – maybe you are putting your hope in them.

You need to be honest about what seriously disappoints you about your life. I believe you will find an idol.

What do you sacrifice your time and money for?

The word “serve” appears seven times in Joshua’s speech. Who or what you serve is revealed by how you spend your time and money. As we learned from the church in the books of Acts a few blogs entries before this one – they invested their time, money, and other resources  to care for people who were left to die by their pagan priest who would flee the area when a plague or famine hit the area. Because of that many of these “pagans” started following Jesus. They sacrificed their time and money in people who had no idea that Jesus loved them. Remember what Jesus said the rich young ruler?  “If you want to follow me – sell everything you have and give it to the poor.”

Where do you go when you’re hurt?

Where we go when we are hurt creates an honest moment of worship. Where do you go for comfort? Some people run to a bottle, some people run to drugs, some people run to food. some people run to sex. Some people run to the internet and search for something or someone to ease the pain.

Each and every day we need to make a choice of whom or what we are going to worship. Remember that God has already chosen you.  Remember that you are the one who gets the make the choice.

Joshua tells his people and is telling us today to “choose this day” who you will serve. Choose this day means:

• Appreciate what God has done. In verses 2-13 Joshua recounts the incredible things God has done for his people. When we gather here for worship we celebrate what God has done for us through Jesus Christ.
• Recognize who God is. In verse 19 Joshua reminds the people who God is. He is a holy and jealous God. He will not share the hearts of his people with false gods.
• Smash all other gods. In verse 23 he says to them: “throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel.”

There is a war for going on for your heart. God could just take away all of our doubts, our fears, our insecurities, our shortcomings,  and our obsessions but He will never do that because He wants us to choose Him.

Joshua offers the invitation to choose this day who you will serve. Who are you going to choose to serve?