I saw the dvd of The Avengers recently. This movie, based on comic book heroes, has plenty of action. The bad guys blow up a lot of stuff and destroy a good part of the city of New York, little things like that.
But at one point the Hulk, a mild mannered researcher who balloons to a powerful giant when angry, confronts Loki, the villain of the story. The rogue challenges him, “I’m a god, you dull creature and I’ll not be bullied by you.”
Upon which, the Hulk grabs him by the ankles, slams him on the ground, again, then again, and again and again! He leaves this “deity” groaning on the floor. Hulk sneers as he walks away, “Puny god!” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30lGrarz3MQ)
I almost shouted. Occasionally you find truth where you least expect it. So many people have sold themselves to the puny gods of this world, things that promise joy but never deliver. Puny gods give puny joy and puny rewards but they demand our all in return.
Our God, the One True God, gives a deep, powerful current of joy. There’s nothing puny about Him nor about the joy He gives.
Are you trying to find joy in the puny gods of this age? Some are overtly sinful. Others aren’t sinful in themselves but they crowd the Lord off the throne of your life? Anything that takes God’s place is a god.
But, if you set up an idol in the place of God, you get the puny return that the false god can give.
The Almighty God did a powerful thing for old man Abraham. He gave him a son when the patriarch reached the rickety age of 100 years. God promised that this son would be a channel of blessing for the whole world.
One day, though, God challenged Abraham. “Offer this son to me in sacrifice.” What? He must have heard wrong. The Lord had never asked for a human sacrifice in the history of the world.
Abraham knew God’s voice, though, and he got up early to obey. As much as he loved his son, he loved God more.
He was convinced that since God had promised to bless the world through this son, that He was going to raise him from the dead. How’s that for faith?
More than that, Abraham settled something in his heart. He loved God more than his miracle son. We need to learn the same lesson. Nothing, nothing is more important in our life than Him. We can lose everything and still live, but without God we’re as good as dead.
Isaac on the throne of your life is an idol, even if he comes supernaturally from God. Isaac on the altar becomes God’s blessing to you and the world.
We can choose all kinds of gods—sexual pleasure outside of marriage, gods of drugs and alcohol, gods of human glory, what have you. And we can even make a god of our family, of sports, of food—the list is long.
But, no one and nothing fills that ache in the middle of our lives like the Lord Jesus. He forgives, He saves, He meets our every need.
All the rest are just a bunch of puny gods.
Hmmm…
Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter. ~ Francis Chan