Reflections by Annette Roux, Retired Pastoral Associate
"I lifted the burden off your shoulders; your hands are free of the brick basket! In distress you cried out, so I rescued you." - Psalm 81:6
God's warning comes too late for most of us. As much as we try to put God first, the reality is that we all have foreign gods. Gods totally incompatible with the life of faith. Idolatry is the word theologians have used for centuries to describe putting something else in the place of God. Most of us are good about knowing that God should come first. But if we look closely enough when we make daily choices we might find that we give too much to other gods instead. But here's the thing about bowing down to those other gods: you can give them everything you have in the hopes that they will bring you joy and contentment, but in the end they will never love you back. Instead you will find that they are not gods at all, but are black holes that suck away every good thing you have to share. That may sound harsh, but it is the truth for many of us. When we approach the end of our earthly lives, we find that never did we find lasting comfort in the past purchase of a vacation house, an expensive car, or a country club membership. In fact, at the end those strange deities will look like the hollow shells they had always been. So what do people find comfort in? Their faith, of course, but more than that in lives where their faith in God's love had moved them to love others. A world made somehow just a little better by their lives. A life well-lived becomes a cause of hope for the rest of us, and a witness to what it looks like to be free from serving what can never love us back.
Prayer: God, may I love you with all of my life knowing that you loved me first, and may that love be enough to keep my heart turned towards you. Amen.
