The alcoholic on the park bench was adamant. “I am an atheist,” he said, “and I don’t care.  I’m not proud of my alcoholism, but I just love to drink.” When he was encouraged to believe in God, he got a longing in his eyes, and said, “I’d like to believe, but it’s hopeless. I love to drink.” He took his bottle out and nursed his craving again.  He had his god.   

The young man stepped back from the spot that he was polishing on his vehicle and cocked his head.  Was there still a smudge there? “It wouldn’t do to go to the singing in a buggy with smudges on it,” he thought. Was this his god?  

Across the field about a mile away, another young man was doing the same thing to his nice new car, only he was using Turtle wax and a power buffer. He had been at this for two hours already. How far was the car from becoming his god?  

About that time a shiny new John Deere tractor swung into the driveway. The father of the new car admirer climbed down from the tractor, and his eye caught the long row of gleaming equipment in the nearby shed. He smiled as he thought of neighbor John’s run-down machines. He would have to thank Banker Barry for approving that loan. Did he feel more grateful to the banker than to God?  

Just across the road, Barbara stood in the doorway and surveyed the kitchen and dining room. “This place sure has a lived-in look” she thought, “but first things first.” She slipped into the small office and knelt beside the chair, thanking her Lord for each little boy and girl that she was blessed to clean up after. Barbara worshiped the true God.

“We know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one” (1 Corinthians 8:4b).  

~James Baer