You Are What You Worship

Scripture

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. …. The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, ‘I will give you all their authority and splendour; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.’ Jesus answered, ‘It is written: “Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.” (Luke 4:1-2,5-8 NIVUK)

You Are What You Worship
It’s now day 19 of Lent (16 if you take out Sundays) and Jesus was isolated with only his own thoughts as he contemplated the work he had ahead of him. “There might be an easier way to create a kingdom than through humility and death” was flashed across his consciousness by that same force that takes us to unhealthy places.

“You become what you behold” was Marshall McLuhan’s great fear of the negative influence the ever-expanding media influence would have on us a humans – and if he could only see us now! We become what we worship, we become what we make deals with to get what we want regardless. Sadly, a lot of our social media activity becomes self-worship.

“My ‘conversion’ to Jesus is that I have become a truth teller. I will no longer say and do whatever it takes to get the deal, the cash, or the girl” was a friend’s comment after some years of friendship. We can say or do whatever it takes to arrive somewhere, “make a deal with the devil”, but ultimately our lives are damaged, and we haven’t served the highest purposes we have as followers of Jesus.

We can see on the international scene many of these compromises to get power without regard to humanity or any values beyond ego. It warns us to worship something good, someone bigger and better than our vision for the world.

A Prayer for Today

Thank you, Christ, that you are the visible expression of the invisible God. …. Through you, and for you, also, were created power and dominion, ownership and authority. In fact, every single thing was created through, and for, you. You are both the first principle and the upholding principle of the whole scheme of creation. …. Life from nothing began through you, and life from the dead began through you, and you are, therefore, justly called the Lord of all.  Grant us this perspective as we makes choices about power and influence…. For Jesus sake (Adding to Colossians 1:15-20 Phillips)