Working Hard For Nothing

Today we read Jeremiah 7-9 and John 13.

In the days before the Bible was bound together and all the words written, God would rise up prophets to share the message of the Lord.  False prophets that said they were of God would come along too, but real, set apart, God ordained prophets would rise up and share His message with faithfulness.  It was not always proper.  As a matter of fact, usually the message was not desirable and the prophet was not appreciated by the majority of the people that he spoke to.   Jeremiah was such a prophet.  He had a burden and it was heavy upon his heart.  One of his prime concerns was pagan, godless, idol worship.  The people worked hard at worshiping something they could see when all they worshiped was what they could see. There was nothing that really made a difference in their worship.
 Jeremiah was encouraging them to worship the God that was much more than they could ever put their hands on.  Read how he describes their efforts toward idol worship in  Jeremiah 7.18- The children gather wood, the fathers kindle fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven. And they pour out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger.
The queen and the gods that he was speaking of are simply different descriptions of their idol worship.  They worked hard at it, (didn't they?)  although it is worth nothing.  
I could not help but think this morning about the stuff that takes so much of our time, effort, and resources that amount to nothing gained.  Our idols are not made of wood or metal (well, maybe they are), and they are not statues to kneel before.  Our idols today are the things that we spend our time, resources, and energy on that don't amount to anything that really lasts.  What are those idols?  Well, that is the question of the day.  
Ponder on possible idols in your life and the time, resources, and energy you spend on things that will not last.   Enjoy worship today in your church and give God the Glory He deserves!