God Substitutes

That's right, you saw that title correctly. "God Substitutes." What on earth could I be talking about? Well, God has really been dealing with me lately concerning idols. Yeah, "God Substitutes" is just a nice way to say Idols. So what exactly has God been dealing with me about idols? I have found, my blog-reading friend, that there are things in this life that we, as humans, have made our idols that we may not have before recognized as idols. These are things like food, Internet, friends, things that God may have very well meant for our good, but we have put before Him. This is bad, this is idolatry.

I don't want to sound preachy, so I'll begin by letting you know that the reason this has been on my heart is because I have been struggling with it myself. I was starting to feel really bad, kind of distant from God and I knew I had to do something about it. So of course I immediately went to praying and... fasting? What? Giving up food? I didn't even realize it at the time I decided to fast, but guess what, food has become my idol. This is the first point I want to make: many of us have made food our idols. You know what? Some people might think that if a person is not overweight then he or she does not have a food-idol problem, but these people are very wrong. I mean just ask yourself, would you be willing to give up an entire day of food to get closer to God? Of course you would! But would you be able to go through with it? Let me tell you, fasting is much easier said than done.

Another question: when was the last time you heard your stomach growl? Yeah, its not a feeling that we as Americans get very often. And just think about it, as Christians how on earth can we have compassion towards those who are starving if we don't even know what it feels like to be a little hungry?

Second point: the Internet. Yep, I said that! We have made the Internet our idol!!! Well, let me not say "we" because I don't really know you and how much time you spend on the Internet, maybe you're not as bad as me... but maybe you are. Lets just be really really honest right now. How long were you on the Internet before you came to read this blog? I mean, I know you didn't get online simply to read this and get off... you're doing other things too. But the Internet is not bad! Please don't mistake me when I say spending time on the Internet is making an idol out of it, the Internet can be used for great purposes (like blogging!) but when we spend excess time online, more time on Facebook than we do in prayer, its a bad thing. Its an idolatry thing.

And what about your friends? Are you spending more time with them than you are with God? I know I have for sure. And that really saddens me. Of course I love my friends, and my family too (I include them as friends), but in the book of Matthew Jesus says that we should love God so much it looks like we hate our friends and families! That is a lot of love, and quite honestly, I don't think it looks like I hate my family.

I guess what I'm trying to get at here is that if a person feels separation from God, perhaps it is because he or she has sin in his life that is getting in the way. These sins are not ones that we would typically see as bad things. Food, the Internet, our families, can all get in the way of our relationship with God. I am definitely working on putting God first this week, it needs to become a lifestyle for each and every one of us. I hope you will join me.