The Second Best God

We live in a world which pulls in many directions. God calls upon us to honor and serve Him. Our families, our work, our friends and other commitments all clamor for attention. Furthermore, whether we admit it or not, money also tugs at our heart strings and demands its place in our lives. It disguises itself as success, security, prosperity, opportunity, responsibility and a host of other euphemistic para-virtues. However, the fact remains that ten times a day, a hundred times a week, a thousand times a year we make tiny choices that draw us away from God in favor things financial. Many of those choices seem prudent and responsible, and usually even are if we don’t make allowance for the exchange rate into God’s economy. Yet, in the midst of all those choices we take incremental, almost imperceptible, steps away from God. We place our trust in the things of this world, often borrowing against the "treasures of heaven" to do so. Indeed, this is virtually unavoidable. We live in this world. We have responsibilities in this world. We naturally make most of our decisions based upon that perspective. Over time, though, our hearts are drawn far the God who should be our first love. We begin to depend upon our investments and retirement. We justify houses and cars and all manor of creature comforts which may not conform to God’s desires and the clear path towards heaven begins to grow hazy because we’ve become overly entrenched in the here and now. In the end, our lives betray a worship of the second best god, the god of this world, rather than the God of heaven. Before you begin pointing fingers, I daresay that the lion’s share of these burning coals is heaped upon my own head, for I am at best just like everyone else. Jesus said that we cannot serve both God and mammon (money) and I don’t pretend to fully understand either that statement or the fullness of its ramifications. What I do know it this: those who would follow the Christ need to look closely at his life and example. Let us not settle for the promises and security of the second best god when the true God has so much more to offer. I’m not quite sure how that must play out in our lives, but it certainly begs for a closer look and much prayer. May the Lord grant wisdom to all of us who seek it in this area of our lives.

The Second Best God
What do we place our trust in
Where do we find our security
What do we worship with our lives
With our time and talents, continually
We cannot serve God and mammon
Those are the bible’s words
Yet we often choose to ignore them
And such wisdom goes unheard
The God of heaven calls us
To worship Him, and Him alone
But we turn from Him with deaf ears
With hearts and minds of stone
To worship the second best god
The almighty dollar we love so dear
In which we place our hope and trust
Throughout each day and year
Our lips may declare it otherwise
But our lives betray our zeal
As we serve the second best god
The one with so much appeal
Who do you serve, God or mammon?
Would the people who know you agree
With the words of your profession
Or call it a travesty
Each of us must examine our lives
Our time, our words, our deeds
Study our check book registers
Winnowing out our desires from needs
Only then can we hope to determine
Which God we really serve
Don’t waste your life on the second best one
Give the real God the praise He deserves
By Frank Carpenter ©