"Why do people choose the substitute over God himself? Probably the most important reason is that it obviates accountability to God. We can meet idols on our own terms because they are our own creations. They are safe, predictable, and controllable; they are, in Jeremiah's colorful language, the 'scarecrows in a cornfield' (10:5). They are portable and completely under the user's control. They offer nothing like the threat of a God who thunders from Sinai and whose providence in this world so often appears to us to be incomprehensible and dangerous . . . [People] need face only themselves. That is the appeal of idolatry."
- David F. Wells
Thursday, August 4, 2011
A thought experiment for you:
Is there any event in your life that you would not miss in exchange for $1,000,000?
Thought Experiment Rules: the event still happens, but you're just not there. Everything else, though, before and after the event, is the same.
For example, it could be your wedding: If you take the $1,000,000, you will miss your own wedding, but when the wedding's over, you're married.
Can you think of anything? I have a couple. One that I'm thinking of right now, because it's fresh on my mind: I recently was honored to walk my daughter down the aisle at her wedding. If you had offered me a million dollars to miss that (heck, ten million), I would have told you to stick it in your pie-hole.
How about you? Is there anything you would not miss in exchange for a million?
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Comments on "Thought Experiment":
2. Tony
- 08/05/2011 9:37 am CDT
Oh, how fun is this.
First public speaking moment - I was 26 teaching adult Sunday school in a sanctuary setting. There were about 30 adults ready to correct every theologically incorrect statement I made ;)
Oh, did I mention I'm highly introverted. I was so nervous, I couldn't see straight but God got me through it and I was able to go on and use my spiritual gift throughout the years. This was considered a painful moment but it was important for me to get over my mental issue with public speaking.
I'm finding that the painful moments in my life, in the long run, are just as important to experience as the joyful moments.
4. Alex Costa
- 08/05/2011 10:42 am CDT
My life. I wouldn't miss that for $100 Trillion.
My wedding. Can't really think of anything else.
5. Manders
- 08/05/2011 10:57 am CDT
I was there for this: http://www.npr.org/2010/12/08/130706090/stile-antico-tiny-desk-concert
You can see me completely blissing out in the background (short-haired Asian girl with glasses). That happened during of an internship that I did at NPR in DC, which was one of the best experiences of my life--I actually turned down a steady job in Texas to be able to do it, even though I didn't get paid. Amazing. :D
6. jen
- 08/05/2011 11:47 am CDT
The birth of my children. Granted, they were c-sections, but I still wouldn't trade that first moment of seeing my babies (or hearing the comments from the working folk in the room) for anything.
8. nhe
- 08/05/2011 3:00 pm CDT
I've had the walk-down-the-isle moment with my daughter, and it is amazing.....but I actually think I would pick about 3 defensive plays I saw my son make in travel baseball about 4 years ago that play on a loop in my mind over and over......is it weird that I would pick that over the walk down the isle moment?
9. G. Frederick
- 08/05/2011 8:24 pm CDT
Oh my, I have never thought about this in this way but there are several of those moments that I know that now I truly wouldn't miss them for anything
1. the moment that I received the saving grace of Jesus
1. births of each of my 3 sons
2. marriage of two of my sons
3. my wedding and honeymoon
Those are moments that I truly cherish and cannot even imagine missing. I can see them in my mind each as if they had just happened and all the joy rushes back to the front.
10. Weekend Fisher
- 08/06/2011 12:24 am CDT
The births of my children.
All the hundreds of treasured little moments that have gone into their growing up.
And, this may seem strange, but also the deaths of my father and grandparents.
Take care & God bless
Anne / WF
Leave a Comment:
back in the early 70s i had a moment of utter and complete certainty about god. my friend dennis had asked me to come outside and have a chat. we sat on a grassy little hill under the night stars. he began talking about, i can't even remember, and suddenly i noticed a white line going straight across the sky, brighter than the stars. it was straight like a laser beam. i asked dennis what to make of it, and he said something about it being from god. i was immediately swept up off my feet, filled with certainty and overflowing joy. my arms were reaching for the sky and i just kept saying praise god, praise god! dennis looked like some kind of angelic being.
and then the feeling began to dissolve and the line in the heavens was disappearing at both ends until it was just a dot over our heads, and then poof, it was gone.
i said, "dennis, what do i do now?" he said , "read the bible,"
i haven't shared this story very often at all through the years because it's so unusual. nothing like this has ever happened since and i have moved on to become a student of the scriptures with the conviction that it's the word of god that engenders real and living faith.
but god did blow my atheism completely out of the water with this grand entrance, and i wouldn't trade it for all the chocolate in the world.