There is a saying that goes, “You are what you eat.” The meaning behind this is that if you fill your body with healthy food, you will be healthy, but if you fill it with unhealthy food, you will be unhealthy. We can apply this saying to other things as well, such as what we think and what we love. Basically, we become like the things that we eat, think, and love. We take on their characteristics.
If we think about things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, or commendable, things that are excellent or praiseworthy, then we will display those characteristics in our lives and have God’s peace (Philippians 4:8). But if we do not think about these kinds of things, we will not have those characteristics or that peace. What we put in our minds reflects in the way we live our lives.
If we love God, then we will be filled with God’s love. We will have the love of the Father in us. But if we love the world, or the things of the world, then we will be like the world, filled with the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life. Choosing to love the world over loving God and doing His will is choosing between that which is temporary and that which is eternal (1 John 2:15-17).
This concept also applies to what we worship. When we worship God, who is worthy, when we give Him the praise that He alone deserves, then we become more like Him. We become what He intended us to be, people created in His image (Genesis 1:26). But when we worship idols, things of the world, we become like them: worthless. In speaking of the Israelites and their stubbornness and refusal to listen to the words spoken by the prophets, Scripture says, “They worshiped worthless idols, so they became worthless themselves.” (2 Kings 17:15, NLT)
The choice is ours to make. Just as we can choose to be healthy by eating healthy rather than unhealthy food, we can choose to be more like God, more like our Creator by worshipping Him rather than the idols of the world.
Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
A Worshiper's Journal 