I have a new definition of futility. This morning I watched a hummingbird trying to get nectar from fake flowers my wife has on the porch. If it isn’t real there isn’t anything worthwhile. Many years ago I heard an entire sermon telling us not to worship idols because it makes God mad. He never addressed the issue as to why it made God mad.
God is our father. Like any good parent He wants the best for His children. He is frustrated when He sees us wasting our time and other resources on foolishness. Jeremiah said it so well in chapter 10. “Someone cuts down a tree from the forest; it is worked by the hands of a craftsman with a chisel. He decorates it with silver and gold. It is fastened with hammer and nails, so it won’t totter. Like scarecrows in a cucumber patch, their idols cannot speak. They must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them for they can do no harm and they cannot do any good.”
Don’t go to an empty well for water. Don’t go to a harvested field for a crop. It is all worthless. If the Bible tells us something makes God angry we must always ask why. Otherwise we make Him out to be a selfish being whose feelings have been hurt. There is no self in God. We cannot hurt His feelings. But we can fill Him with frustration when He offers us the best and instead we settle for some pretty trinket or fake and end up without anything of value.
My poor hummingbird was wasting its time and energy. Those fake flowers were pretty but that’s all they had to offer.
Written by Roger Bothwell on May 8, 2014
Spring of Life, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org