“Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.” (Romans 1:21–23, KJV 1900)
Years ago, a group called Point of Grace wrote a song with these lyrics, “everybody’s worshipping something, cause that’s what we were made to do.” Paul continues the thought regarding the fallen nature of man by indicating that while men were wise in their own minds, they were in fact fools. Paul echoed the Psalmist in this sentiment, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.” (Ps 14:1; 53:1) These who did not honor God or give thanks to Him, instead turned to idolatry, worshipping images made in the likeness of mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
In this country, we would have difficulty relating to the worship of idols. However, as Point of Grace sang, “Everybody’s worshipping something.” It is an issue of devotion. I would contend that people today, even in this country, practice a form of idolatry by devoting themselves to things rather than the Creator of all.
Perhaps this will clarify my point. I used to work for a company in Zurich Switzerland and would travel there for an extended time. While there, on Saturdays I would go skiing in the Alps. My boss at the time also liked skiing. One day, I was talking with him about the church I attended in Zurich and he surprised me by saying, “My god is skiing.” He was saying that the driving love of his life was skiing. Well, a couple years later he had a skiing accident and broke his leg. I guess his god did not deal with him too kindly that day. Our God on the other hand rescued us from the peril of sin.
My point here is that we all worship something. We worship the things to which we devote our lives. The questions we should ask ourselves are these. Are we truly devoted to God? Do we honor Him? Do we give thanks to Him? Or have things stolen our devotion to Him? Perhaps it is time to repent and seek the Lord with a whole heart.
Renewing the Heart 