“Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.”
- Psalm 95:6
I’ve noticed that you humans seem to bow down to a lot of things.
Now, dogs bow down too, but usually there’s a good reason.
A tennis ball under the chair.
A suspicious smell in the grass.
Or, most importantly, a piece of bacon that somehow escaped the breakfast table.
But humans?
You bow down without even realizing you’re doing it.
I watched my human the other morning.
Coffee beside him.
Bible open.
Phone buzzing.
He’d read a few words.
Buzz.
Look at the phone.
Read another verse.
Buzz.
Look at the phone.
Finally, he turned it over and said, “Everything in this world wants our attention. The question isn’t whether we’ll bow down. The question is what we’ll bow down to.”
I thought about that.
Money says, Bow down.
Success says, Bow down.
Politics says, Bow down.
Popularity says, Bow down.
Fear says, Bow down.
Your job, your possessions, your schedule, your reputation, even that little glowing rectangle you carry everywhere—they all seem to be shouting the same thing:
Give me your attention.
Give me your time.
Give me your heart.
Sounds a lot like worship to this old dog.
Because everybody worships something.
Whatever gets our greatest attention, deepest devotion, strongest allegiance, and greatest trust eventually becomes an altar.
And this world is covered with them.
Some even look like good things.
Family.
Work.
Success.
Security.
Even church.
Good things become dangerous things when we put them where only God belongs.
The Bible tells about people who were commanded to bow before an enormous golden image.
Everybody hit the ground.
But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego stayed standing.
Why?
Because they had already decided who they would bow down to.
That may be the lesson.
If you haven’t decided who gets your worship, the world will gladly decide for you.
And there’s always another golden statue being built.
Another thing promising happiness.
Another voice demanding allegiance.
Another fear trying to become bigger than God.
My human eventually closed his eyes, bowed his head, and prayed.
I laid my head across his foot.
And suddenly everything got quiet.
The phone was still there.
The problems were still there.
The world was still shouting.
But none of them were sitting on the throne anymore.
Maybe that’s what bowing before God does.
It reminds us who God is…
So when this noisy world starts demanding that you bow down, remember three men standing in front of a fiery furnace.
Stand firm.
Then kneel before the One who deserves it.
Everything else is just another golden statue.
The world screams, “Bow down to me and I’ll make you happy.”
Jesus quietly says, “Follow Me.”
One demands everything and leaves us empty.
The Other gave everything so we could have life.
Keep the Faith… Carpe Diem
