22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Romans 1:22-23
Isn’t this “The World” today? This is exactly the thinking the world peddles.
“Hey, you can be your own god. Come on, think about it; it logically makes sense. You are only as good as you treat yourself. Teach others how to treat you. Your own life is your right to have and control, from your mind to your emotions, your mental state, and your body. Just be good to yourself.”
‘Treating ourselves good’ is to understand that God knows what is best for us. To get what God knows to be best for us, we must surrender our own control over it. When it comes to having a right…I don’t want the right to what I deserve…because I deserve to die and pay for the sins I have committed against a Holy and Pure God. What I want is what He wants for me, and I want to serve the One Who gave Himself for me…paying for everything I deserve.
So, in this so-called wisdom to only seek god-like control over ourselves is actually the most foolish decision we can make. As Paul says, we trade the glory the One True God gives, for a futile life lived out here on earth where the only good you might receive what the world has to offer, but the length of that perceived goodness is only a nano-second in the grand scheme of eternity.
APPLICATION
My application today is just an overwhelming thankfulness of the graciousness and mercifulness character of my LORD and Savior Jesus Christ. I deserve the punishment He already endured on the cross and in separation from the Father and Holy Spirit. My entire existence in the here and now under the sun, AND the eternal hope that lays beyond this world…is owed to Him.