What We Build and Then Obey

But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king.

Jeremiah 10:10

Read Jeremiah 10 and 11. Focus on Jeremiah 10:1 through 16 and 11:1 through 8. A calendar begins as a useful tool. Then every empty hour starts to look like a problem. A reputation begins as the result of good work. Then maintaining it starts to determine what you can admit. Something we arranged to serve our lives begins telling us how to live them. Jeremiah 10 describes idols made by human hands. People cut wood, shape it, decorate it, and secure it so it cannot fall. The object must be carried because it cannot walk. The prophet exposes the absurdity of fearing something that depends on its worshipers to stand upright. The contrast is with the living God, the Maker of the earth. God does not need people to construct His authority or hold Him in place. His claim on Judah comes before their preferences and survives their attempts to replace Him. We should hear the passage's actual target. It addresses manufactured gods and the worship given to them. It is not a warning against ordinary decoration or craftsmanship. The question is where people locate ultimate power and allegiance. Chapter 11 then recalls the covenant and the obedience it required. Judah has pursued other gods despite repeated instruction. The problem is not that God has failed to communicate. The people have attached their lives to rival loyalties. We may never bow before a carved figure, yet we can still examine what receives our obedience. An image of being the dependable one may prevent us from admitting that we need help. A public following may determine which truths we are willing to say. A lifestyle may require financial decisions that quietly consume our freedom. These things have limited power. They cannot make a person whole, forgive sin, or guarantee a future. Still, they can issue surprisingly demanding instructions when our loyalty is attached to them. Ask what you are working hardest to keep upright. What would happen if it disappointed you or other people saw its limits? The answer may show where a useful part of life has acquired an authority it was never meant to possess. The living God can be trusted with a life that includes limitations and unfinished work. You do not have to carry a fragile substitute through every room, afraid that somebody will discover it cannot stand on its own. Put It into Practice Identify one demand made by an image, possession, or measure of success. Decide whether that demand agrees with your actual responsibilities before obeying it again.

What do you feel unable to question because so much of your life is arranged around maintaining it?

Living God, reveal what I have given authority over my choices. Free me from the exhausting need to protect appearances and substitutes. Restore my loyalty to You, and put the things I have made back in their proper place. Amen.