READY:

“They rejected his statutes and his covenant he had made with their ancestors and the warnings he had given them. They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves, following the surrounding nations the LORD had commanded them not to imitate.” – 2 Kings 17:15

SET:

Playing summer softball as a kid, I’d look forward to winning the huge region trophy at the end of the season. I’d enjoy playing throughout our season, but I really looked forward to the award ceremony and pizza party that awaited us at the end. Looking back, how worthless were those trophies and pizza parties? I don’t even know who kept the large region trophy, and as for those little league trophies: they’re all packed up in a box in my closet.

If you’re playing the game just to get an award, you’re following a worthless pursuit. And what does our verse for today say about following worthless things? We become worthless. A commentator said, “they followed after nothingness and became nothing.” We become like what we chase. Our pursuits shape us. The Israelites in 2 Kings were in a season of disobedience and rebellion. They rejected God’s good statutes and the covenants He put in place for their well-being and joy. Instead, they chose to follow after what the culture around them was pursuing. Worthless idols that were “silver and gold, made by human hands. “They have mouths but cannot speak, eyes but cannot see. They have ears but cannot hear, noses but cannot smell. They have hands but cannot feel, feet, but cannot walk. They cannot make a sound with their throats. Those who make them are just like them, as are all who trust in them” (Psalm 115:4-8).

When you put it like the Psalmist did, you really see the worthlessness of that pursuit. Chasing a trophy or any other earthly idol such as popularity, status, fame, money, reputation or power is all the same. None of these can see, hear, feel or help. They have nothing to offer us but emptiness. God, on the other hand, is true and real and the riches He offers us are unsearchable in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:8).

Chasing the trophy only brings emptiness. That idol has nothing to offer and neither do any of the others. But chasing the true God, the One whose love is greater than all our sin, that is a pursuit worth following after.

GO:

1. What earthly idols are you currently chasing right now?

2. How do you feel as you’re chasing them?

WORKOUT:

OVERTIME: