30 MARCH 2025 www.goodnewsfl.org Good News • South Florida Edition YOU ASK WHY Exchanging the Creator for Created Things When was the last time you considered just how easy it is to fall into the trap of exchanging the love and devotion you have for our Creator for created things? Now, I am not just speaking about those created things that we would put under the heading of “BAD” – like possessions that possess us, worldliness that wreaks havoc in our world, and the desperate desire for instant gratification regardless of the cost or circumstance. We exchange the Creator for some very good created things like . . . • Family • Friends • Finances • Success • Work • Church service • Hobbies • Possessions Can you think of other “good” created things that we can exchange for the Creator? The selfish and sinful human heart can begin beating for the good gifts God has given rather than the Giver of those good gifts. Because we are made to worship, if we are not worshipping our Creator, we will find some created thing to worship. We simply cannot live without an object to worship because God has wired us for worship. The years as a pastor have taught me that every problem in life is, at core, a worship problem. Period! So, it’s not a question of whether or not we will worship, but rather, what we are worshipping with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. “They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served created tings rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen” (Romans 1:25). The apostle Paul makes it crystal clear that some people have “exchanged the truth about God for a lie.” The throne of their lives, that place that represents ultimate authority, power and dominion, is occupied by something other than God. But this is not for you. Let the words that follow bring you strength and courage throughout the month of March to rise above a life given over to created things, even the best of those created things, stopping at nothing short of keeping the Creator on the throne of your life. Priorities “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:2). In this very first of the 10 Commandments God gave to His delivered people, He reminds them what their first priority in both life and death is to be . . . GOD! What God told His people then He is telling His people today: worshipping created things is not as strange as it might sound. Yes, it is strange to think about bowing down to a sacred cow or a golden calf. We are far too sophisticated for that. What we do is simply make gods out of everything else other than God. God knew the sinful nature of the human heart and just how easy it would be to begin beating for something smaller than God. So, after having freed His people from over 400 years of bondage and slavery in Egypt, God reminds His people of His deliverance as a means of making the Creator the object of their worship. Notice the language . . . I am the Lord your God . . . I brought you out of Egypt . . . I brought you out of the land of slavery. Our God wants us to remember how He and He alone has delivered us. Now I know we have not been delivered out of bondage in Egypt, but make no mistake, we have been delivered out of bondage to many other things, including sin, Satan and death. They no longer reign in the life of the believer, but they still remain, which is why we must keep our focus on our Deliverer. Our deliverance should be a source of continual comfort, courage, and cosmic correction to love God and use things, rather than love things and use God as a means to an end. What is your master? Is there any place in your life right now where you have exchanged your devotion and worship of the Creator for a created thing? Is there any material thing that has become your master? Remember, it can be really, really good things that have been graciously given to you by the hand of Almighty God. But good things become bad things when they become ultimate things. God will tolerate no rival, nor should He. Give God His rightful place – on the throne of your life – and all of your good gifts will be just what they were intended to be – good gifts from the hand of our Great God who is to be praised, worshipped and glorified above all things. This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN! Dr. Tommy Boland is senior pastor of Cross Community Church in Deerfield Beach (www.thecrosscc.org). He blogs regularly at tommyboland.com. - Dr. Tommy Boland - Pastor, Cross Community Church PARIS, FRANCE: Stained Glass in Notre Dame Cathedral of Paris depicting the Adoration of the Golden Calf, as mentioned in the Old Testament, Exodus.
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