Creation or Creator?

I had some requests this week via email asking if I would post this article up again... It was the first original article for this blog... I would not normally post past articles, because they can be still viewed by going back... but I thought I would honor these requests to post it again... I need to be reminded of this article too.. Thanks everyone...

I ask of us these questions today. What is it that we worship? What is it that we value with our hearts?

We live in a day and age in which everything is moving so fast. With the dawn of the Information Age and technology advancing daily it seems we can hardly even keep up. There are now so many things that consume our lives and steal our time, that we must continue to examine ourselves and ask, "What really matters?". The next email? The best I-Pod? Who will win American Idol? I can assure you of this one thing, that Christ's only concern is the condition of our heart.

Is our heart Christ Centered? Are we set apart for Him? Are we in the faith? These are questions we must ask on a daily basis. The Apostle Paul asks this very question in 2 Corinthians 13:5 "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you?-unless indeed you are disqualified." Peter also brings this to light in 2 Peter 1:10, charging the brethren to be even more diligent to make your call and election sure.

There are all kinds of pressures to stop following Christ with integrity, to be absorbed in the value set of the culture around us. Do we really even take the time to think about these things. What really consumes us? TV, computer, bills, making more money, upgrading homes, more cars, status, making a name for ourselves, the cares of this life, living like this is our home.

There is a danger when Romans 7:14-24 becomes normative. Paul states "
I do the things I don't want to do, I don't do the things I should. Oh wretched man that I am, I hate this." What happens when this becomes normative? When the pleasures of this life look so pleasing to the eye, and they scream out "worship me" and the culture around us has bought the lie and they are bowing down to their god's and finding security there. What are we to do?

Watch the same ungodly TV shows that this culture has grown to love. I think not, most of what we see on TV is the direct opposite of the 10 commandments...
Murder, Adultery, Stealing/Embezzlement, Coveting, Bearing false witness, Taking the Lord's name in vain.... The list goes on and on. I challenge you to read them tonight and have them open when your favorite TV show is on and compare that show with Exodus 20. You just might shock yourself.

It may sound like I am picking on TV, and you are right, I am. We would not let a murderer or someone that uses foul language to come into our home and influence our children, but yet so often we do it with the TV, and if we are honest, we spend more time in front of the TV instead of studying God's Word, which has an eternal value to it. Now, the TV has some benefits and is not evil in its self, but it sure is a spiritual suppressant!!!

So in light of all the things of this world that tug at us. What are we to do?

Jesus addresses this in Mathew 6:19 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal." Here Jesus calls out "stop doing this". Stop investing your life in the kingdom of this world, and the securities of this life. Stop investing in the temporal things. The things that are not Christ commending but, invest your life in my Kingdom (vs20), the eternal things, where moth and rust cannot destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal.

Invest your whole being in that direction. Let your whole focus be on the Creator rather than the creation. All the things of this world that man has made is nothing more than a creation made out of this earth. Made out of dirt. Everything that man has made, will wither,will rust, will return back to the ashes of dirt. Even the most beautiful of cars and houses will falter and fade away one day. Now I am not suggesting that you and your family sell all that you have and go live in a tent and become semi-homeless. However we must in light of scripture keep all things in balance and in a Christ-Centered perspective and guard our hearts from the value set of this culture.

Jesus goes on to say and this really sums it up for all of us. This is our measuring stick and guide. Here is what Jesus says in vs 21. "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Where is our treasure? What do we long for everyday? Our selfish desires, the lusts of the flesh; or the things that will matter for eternity, like the study of God's Word, raising our families in the ways of the Lord and sharing the Gospel of Christ with others.

Lets examine ourselves today and see if indeed we are in the faith. Are we worshiping Creation or the Creator ? Are we really His or have we become more and more like this World. May we repent of our selfish desires and let the things of this world grow strangely dim. Let us draw nearer to Christ. (Heb 10:22)


by His Grace alone,

Bill