Sunday 02:20:11

OT people didn’t worship idols for no reason. The reason they worshipped a particular idol was because it was supposed to help or save them. The idol was a physical form representing some spiritual being that had power over some area of the world. There were gods of strength, weather, fertility, etc. Today, we worship what helps us, what saves us. “Every one of us is, even from his mother’s womb, a master craftsman of idols.” – John Calvin Sometimes we look to another person to save us. There is an idea in our culture that if the right man finds the right woman, they will be complete and fulfilled. They will find perfect satisfaction in each other. The man will feel significant in the eyes of his wife. The woman will always feel secure, perfectly protected and provided for by her perfect husband. They will cure each other’s feelings of loneliness and lostness. There is an idea between a man and a woman, “I’ll save you and you’ll save me.” “Fix You” by British group Coldplay. And high up above or down below When you’re too in love to let it go But if you never try you’ll never know Just what you’re worth Lights will guide you home And ignite your bones And I will try to fix you The problem is we were created with a void that nothing and no one on this earth can fill. We were created with longings and cravings that are greater than anything on the planet can satisfy. “What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself.” – Blaise Pascal There is only One who can heal us, fill us, make us whole, and, therefore, only One worthy of our worship. Only God can fix us. Only God can fulfill us. Only God can fully satisfy us. Only God can make us completely secure. Only God can bring significance. Only God can save. Jonah 2:9d 9 ‘Salvation comes from the LORD.’ There is always a price to be paid for clinging to idols. Jonah 2:8 8 “Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.” Trying to squeeze out of your wife or husband something they cannot give will never work. Your wife cannot make you feel significant. Your husband cannot make you fully secure. If you try to squeeze something out of them they cannot give, they will never measure up to your expectations. They will always fail. They will never be enough. You’ll always be looking for someone else. And you will never get what you’re looking for. John 4:7-26 There was a woman. She was thirsty. Jesus links her thirst to her relationships with men. He says, “you’re thirsty because you’re going to the wrong place to get you thirst filled.” He never tells her she’s too needy. He tells her where to go to get her need met. Jesus can fulfill our thirst – John 4:14 “whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst”