No Discernment

No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, "Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals, I roasted meat and have eaten. Now shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?" Isaiah 44:19 NRSV

This is one of those scriptures that is really kind of funny. The person takes some wood and uses part of it to build a fire. The rest is made into an idol. God is saying, can't this person not see the difference between fuel and a god? Can something that can burn to provide heat and cook your food also answer your prayers? Is this not completely ridiculous?

For us in the Twenty-First Century it may seem very obvious. But I think we have our own wood to deal with. And I see our wood as being money.

Do we not worship the almighty-dollar? We have "In God We Trust" on our money but we should have "in money we trust" instead.

Can we not see that something we use to buy what we eat, pays for our comfortable shelters and clothes is not something to worship?

Yet, we spend most every waking moment trying to get more money, working for money, spending our money, worrying about money, obsessing about money and even planning where our money is going to go after we are gone.

Do we have our own idol? Yes.

Do we have no knowledge or discernment? That is a question you must answer for yourself.

God, give us knowledge and discernment. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Copyright 2010 Amelia G. Sims