Shadows

They’re shadows. They’re all shadows.
These gods we put our trust in.
The money we think will keep us secure.
The person we think will fix our life.
The job placement we think will bring satisfaction.
The next bite that helps us forget.
The church program we think will save us.
The love of our life.
The status we strive to actualize.
They are shadows in light of the One True God.

God spoke everything into being. Everything we see and everything we can’t see. Then, in His grace, he reaches down and creates man. He, Himself, breathes life into man. He then gives man dominion, or rule, over all creation. Each blade of grass, each firefly, each day was put under man’s rule. Everything being created for His glory, everything in it’s truest form points back to the Creator. Everything in it’s truest form brings joy to man and glory to God. Likewise, everything in it’s false form brings destruction and idolatry.
For Example:

Sex is created by God. He is not shocked by the physics of it all. It was His idea. In it’s truest form, it produces intimacy between one man and one woman in marriage. In it’s truest form, it creates life. In it’s truest form, it is a God-glorifying act of worship. Done outside of God’s design, it is destructive. In it’s false form, it destroys marriages and health. When God’s glory shines on this beautiful act, we have the choice to worship God through sex, or to worship the shadow…the false version of sex.

Food is created by God. This might be a shock to you, but God knew what would happen when the grapes sat out too long. Alcohol is His idea. Around the dinner table with good friends and family, wine warms the heart and extends the God-glorifying conversation. When food is shared in the fellowship of other believers, it brings unity and joy among brothers & sisters. When food is eaten to forget, it expands our waistline and breaks our heartbeat down. When God’s glory shines on the Ribeye, cheesecake, Cabernet, or Lager, we have the choice to worship God through food or worship the shadow…the false version of food.

Jobs are God’s idea. Before we broke the covenant with God through sin, God commands Adam to subdue the earth. He tells us to work. Work in it’s truest form brings security, a sense of worth, and God-glorifying relationships. In it’s false form, work becomes something we just maintain at best, and something we kill for at worst. In it’s false form, it leads to a delusion of status when our life is minuscule compared to eternity. Each day at our job, we have the choice to respond to God by working diligently and thanking Him for our position, or to worship the shadow and bow down to the career path.

God created everything we see and can’t see for His glory and our good. When we worship Jesus by enjoying things within His design, He gets glory, and we get to eat a reasonable amount of cheesecake. When we idolize cheesecake, we just get fatter and sadder. The idea now is to worship the Creator, not creation; to worship the Father of Lights, rather than the shadows. This week, as you go about your everyday life, think through God’s design for things and how you can work, eat, play, & interact with people while reflecting God’s glory. Or more specifically, how can your meal at Saltgrass be an act of worship?

One day, we will only see the true versions of things. One day, we will understand how sex, food, work, and relationships bring glory to God. One day, we will see His glory and not just the shadows that prove His glory. One day, we will no longer be tempted to worship the shadows for we will see Him.
“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”
1 Corinthians 13:12

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