What God are You Really Serving?

It’s funny; well actually sad when I ask people the question of what God or god they are serving. Most just say; “Well-God”; yeah big red truck right? Others say “My pastor says” and still others just look at me with a question of disgust as if I should already know-yet they never ask the question. So I ask you what God are you serving?

You see; you may think you are serving the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob yet does your life reflect it? Or does the Lord come after as in after school, after work, after church, after football; after you fill in the blank.

I thought for so long that I was serving God; I honestly did. I went to church every Sunday. Yep. I sure did. I sat there and I even took notes. Boy was I such a server of the Lord. Yet in all that what did my life actually look like? It reflected the god I truly was serving. And yours does too.

I recall listening to a pastor from Inda years ago talk about how America and its people believe they have no idols or others gods and how wrong that actually was. He went on to share the judgmental ways of the Hindus who have many gods and I thought that too was of interest. As I tuned him out I reflected on all the gods that are in America that we don’t realize are gods that are idolized. Look around. Again- look around. Here are some of the fake, false gods that are served daily and all with blinders on:

1- The god of food. If you happen to live in Dallas you are blessed with more than 27k restaurants in Dallas county alone. People eat on their way to eating, on their way to shopping, on their way to the shooting range and then on their way home from it all. Food has never been more of a topic in any of the places I have lived in the US or outside the US as it has been in Dallas. It’s about food and of course to be hip and cool you must be a foodie. So there is your god. Enjoy and add extra sauce.

2- the god of time. Are you ruled by the clock? Every waking moment focused on how you are doing this minute compared to the next all in preparation for that next one. And of course the time put into something just to idolize how much time it took to be that expert and in less time than others because others just weren’t as effective with their time to be able to do what you were in less time. Being ruled by a clock simply means it is what is governing you; and most often not even to your acknowledgement.

3- the god of self- While this should be an obvious one; deception is a funny thing. In today’s current society everything is all about self. Self magazine, self-made millionaire, self-embodiment, self-motivated, self-started, self-image; you get the idea. The god of self has more worshiping and idolizing themselves above all which of course is contrary to the Word of God but hey in a selfie world if you are going to pick a god you may as well be it right?

4- the god of titles– Oh yes the titles! The world just loves titles. Everyone must have a title as your name just isn’t enough. Oh no not for today’s society. The love of titles just separates everyone from the next and aren’t we all so important being able to be identified by our titles? When did your title become the identifying facet of who God created you to be? I don’t remember Jesus or Paul carrying cards around with fancy 15 word titles just to prove their importance do you? Yet the love of the title just in recent times appears to be the identity of most. I even remember listening to a pastor tell some business owners that his wife was to only be called by her title because that who she was. Now how sad is that not only that he thought of his wife as nothing more than a man-made religious title but that he too expected everyone else around him to diminish her as well. All in the name of the title that we don’t even realize carries less value that we the people. Who would you be if your title were removed?

5- the god of sports– There was a day when people went to church on Sunday but that was before sports became the god of many families. The church has such tried to compete while just bring your sport to church day instead of saying something like ‘pick your God’ but that would be too easy and what church wants to lose those tithes and offerings right? So let’s just bring in all in and everyone wins. Make no choice just serve all the gods and do it together. Now in all seriousness we can mock it but it still remains a fact that sports in America and probably in your city is a god for many. How many millions of people plants their behinds in front of a screen to watch men run around with a ball all Sunday? All Saturday? Thursday night? Friday night for the young men? Saturday morning? Saturday afternoon? Monday night? Does it end? Nope. It never will until; well the NFL goes bankrupt but that won’t stop anything because pickleball may just be the next best thing. It does really matter what it is because the fact that it is is what is important. The god of sports steals from the lives of many without even their real acknowledgement. One only need to look at the amount of money spent at the local bar on any given Sunday to see what was stolen. Or as those Olympians what their childhood was like and you’ll find out what god was served. There is always a god of sports lurking and more agents to help you find one if you are in need. Now with anything; it’s not to say sports are all evil it’s the mere statement of it being a god that is what will separate you from the One and Only living God.

6- The god of materialism- The acquisition of stuff has never been as high as it has been in recent years. Prior to credit cards people used cash. How ignorant were they? Now; the average American carries 16k in credit card debt. If you have a 1k credit card balance and pay the monthly amount it will take 10 years to pay it off. But have no worry- that item for the first 20 minutes you owned it was surely awesome! Our society has been duped into thinking that more will be more pleasing when in fact that the ideology will only prove to keep you serving a god of death to your finances. The greatest industry ever in innovation in my opinion is that of the storage industry. How many millions of people pay to store stuff they aren’t using?! The average storage unit cost in America is now $70.00/mo with an annual total of $840 not including any fees. That is just one year except most people don’t pay for just one year. Oh no- it’s more than that. So as a result the god of materialism sucks people into a false idea that more means more and yes it does- more maintenance, more cleaning, more stress, more servant-hood to it all. The US has more shopping acreage across its land than any other country in the entire world. It’s wonderful although at what cost? Are your pursuits of material accumulation keeping you from actually serving the God who can change your life and your bank account in more positive ways than last years Prada?

In the end; what God are you serving? The Bible is pretty clear, ‘This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.’ (Deu 30:19) In that you and your children will live. It’s time to set aside everything else that has been a god and let the One and Only God take the place that is rightly His in your life. Then you will be serving Him above all.

To grow in Christ visit www.julieblair.com

Julie Blair hosts a tv and radio program ‘Living in Forgiveness’ that airs daily to approximately 3B people worldwide. Tune in tonight for a new episode on the UANetwork at 9:30pm CST. Check your local listing.