Isa 41:29

Isa 41:29  Behold, they are all vanity; their works are nothing: their molten images are wind and confusion.  In Isaiah 41, God issues a call to all nations to keep silence before Him. Why? Because they are coming to God’s courtroom: “Let us come near together to judgment” (v.1b). God assures Israel He will keep and protect them (v.8-20). He challenges the idol worshippers if their gods can tell the future like Him: “Let them bring them, and tell us what is to happen. Tell us the former things, what they are, that we may consider them, that we may know their outcome; or declare to us the things to come. Tell us what is to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods” (v.22, 23a, ESV). Sure enough, the idols of the pagan have no power; and it is folly to trust in them: “Behold, they are all vanity; their works are nothing: their molten images are wind and confusion” (v.29). An idol can do nothing. Yet, an idol is not limited to an image that one worships. What is an idol?  An idol is someone or something one has excessive devotion. Ezekiel 14:3 mentions this phrase, “idols in their heart”. God says that certain elders of Israel had “set up idols in their heart.” Though they professed to worship the true God, but in their hearts they were worshiping idols. The apostle John ends his epistle with these words: “Little children, keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21). What could be some of the idols in our hearts? 1. It could be SELF. “For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,…. heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God” (2 Timothy 3:2, 4b). 2. It could be WEALTH. “But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions” (Matthew 19:22). 3. It could be an HOBBY or PURSUIT. “Envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:21, NLT). 4. It could be FRIENDS or RELATIVES. “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37).                                                                                                                5. It could be a SIN. “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness” (Galatians 5:19). The conclusion derives from the judgment is: “They are all vanity” (v.29). John arrives at the same conclusion too: “The world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (1 John 2:17). The only thing that matters most is eternity. John says the only persons who can abide forever are those who are doing the will of God. The only thing that matters is a right relationship with God. What is a right relationship with God? The answer is found in Mark 12:30: “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.” It means a genuine love (from the heart), a committed love (reaching to the soul), a mindful love (occupies the mind), and a diligent love (strength to serve). How do you love God?