He went up to the altar that he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, in the month that he had devised from his own heart. And he instituted a feast for the people of Israel and went up to the altar to make offerings. 1 Kings 12:33
My family makes fun of me for this, but I like that artificial butter-flavored spray that comes in a bottle. Honestly, I think it tastes like butter, and it has a fraction of the calories. It fits my life preference to cheat – to have that which tastes good now, without the price to pay later. If given the choice, I’d almost always choose to have the benefit of something good, without any sacrifice to myself. Recently, at an athletic competition, surrounded by those who seemed bigger and stronger than me, it occurred to me that perhaps some of them were using performance enhancing drugs. This got me to thinking – Wouldn’t that be nice? If I could just take a pill and suddenly be better, why wouldn’t I? The question answers itself, of course. I wouldn’t because I know a thing or two about the cost of using drugs.
This is what illicit drugs offer though – an artificial experience that promises something greater than you’ve currently got. Drugs make you think that you can cheat, having it all. You can find relief and release now, without thinking of the cost later. If, later, you do feel poorly, you can always just take more of the drug. There is, however, always a cost to pay later when we indulge in immediate gratification.
We’re often tempted by the world to enjoy an artificial imitation of the authentic life God intends for us. This is the lesson of today’s passage, in which King Jeroboam raised up two golden calves to be worshipped by the people of Israel. Cut off from the Levite priests, he made up his own priesthood and even inaugurated his own yearly feast, which was on the 15th day of the eighth month, mimicking the Feast of Tabernacles which was of the 15th day of the seventh month. Unwilling to pay the cost of making peace with the rest of Israel, he couldn’t have the real thing, so he created an imitation worship experience to fool his own people. He didn’t fool God though, and eventually, there was a price to pay for his idolatry.
We all want the good life. That’s not wrong. God created us to experience life, joy, and peace. He created us however, to know these things only in a loving relationship with him. That can be a lot of work though – daily investing in a relationship with God – so we try to find alternatives, settling for immediate gratification. Our indulgences though – drugs, money, sex, food, or shopping – are all artificial substitutes. As such, they can never truly satisfy, and they all come with some painful price to pay later. If we genuinely desire the good life, then daily, we must abandon the artificial and pursue that which is real – an authentic relationship with the loving father who created us.