He Lives and Calls Me to Live for Him

He Lives and Calls Me to Live for Him might be a tough theme to put your finger on.  You can take this in any direction.  First I want you to walk in Paul’s shoes for a few moments as he strolled down the boulevard in ancient Athens.

As he walked he saw many objects of worship; that’s because the Greeks worshipped many gods.  They had a pantheon of gods.  There were gods of certain places, gods of certain trades and occupations; there was a god for every aspect of your life.  The danger, as the men of Athens saw it was, “What if you left one of them out?”  It wouldn’t be a good idea to ignore a god, just because you didn’t know who he was, right?  That’s why you had better have an altar to an unknown god.  These people were very religious.  Literally they feared the gods.

We may enjoy looking down our noses in our scientific enlightenment at these ignorant heathens.  Are we really that much different?  What would Paul see if we invited him to walk down our streets?  If we took him out to eat, into our homes?  What if he followed us to our entertainment outings – movies, concerts, sporting events?  Would he say, I see that in every way you are very religious. ²³ For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship.  Before you argue with me that you come to church most every Sunday and only worship the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, let’s review what an idol, or object of worship really is.  I don’t think any of you have small statues made of silver or gold that you pray to or that you burn money and incense, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t tempted by idols.  Consider that an idol is really anything, anyplace, or anyone who is more important than God and what he commands.  In a land of plenty, I know things are tight, but it’s still relative opulence compared to the rest of the world.  It doesn’t take too much for us to make the almighty dollar a powerful god that can solve any problem.  If we just had more money, then…  money can’t solve all of your problems, but it can sneak its way into the #1 spot of your heart.

Want to hear more?  Watch this week’s message taken from Acts 17: He Lives and Calls Me to Live for Him.