Gods of the Earth

They spoke of the God of Jerusalem as they spoke of the gods of the peoples of the earth, which are the work of men’s hands.  2 Chronicles 32:19

As difficult as it is for me to abandon an addictive, destructive behavior to follow God, it is impossible to change while I remain unwilling to admit that I am addicted to that destructive behavior. Every addict or alcoholic, when first confronted with the possibility of being an addict or alcoholic, has denied it. I don’t have a problem. I could quit if I want to. I just don’t want to.

We are painfully slow to admit that we are enslaved. We all struggle with something, but we are loath to acknowledge it. Addicts are only those bad people with drug problems. We aren’t addicted, we just like to look at porn sometimes. We aren’t enslaved to possessions, we just like nice things. We could lose weight if we really wanted, we just enjoy food.

We are always going to serve some god. We may think we are free in following our own desires, but whatever appetite we feed the most, is our god. The gods of this earth are cruel masters which always enslave, leading us away from the true God, into some misery and destruction. If that destruction is not horrific enough to us to cause us to change, then all the better for that god.

The problem again, is that we refuse to admit the severity of our addiction. We think that we can follow God while living whatever life we choose. We think that grace means we don’t really have to change our behavior because God will always forgive. While God will forgive when we repent, it is not repentance to continue serving another god.

If we desire to know freedom and life, instead of addiction and death, we must admit that we have been enslaved to false gods. We must turn to the one true God who never enslaves. Admitting our problem does not make it go away instantly, but we cannot abandon our destruction while refusing to acknowledge it.