October 20, 2002

What makes the world go round? Is it money? Is it love? This week's Scriptures asserts that what makes the world go round is a WHO. It is the Lord. Every other God and every other rule is at the service of the one Lord to whom we belong and who alone deserves our faithful worship.

When we think seriously about what makes the world go round, we realize that our actions and our beliefs don't always agree. How we spend our time and our money can tell us a lot about what we think is really important in life and what makes the world go round. We know in our hearts that God should come first, but do we act that way? Perhaps our actions show that things, beauty, popularity, food, knowledge, technology, power and strength or winning come first for us. Something or someone may even rule our lives as Lord and Master.

It's also possible that we feel we, ourselves, make our world go round. We may feel like the Lord or own lives and the lives of many others who are dependent upon us. Either way, Jesus suggests we remember in whose image we are stamped, who creates and empowers us, and to whom we belong, so that we will give "to God what belongs to God", that is our WHOLE SELVES!

Today's Psalm and letter to the Thessalonians help us understand how to put our belief into practice. If we really believe that God makes the whole world go round then we will respond to God's generosity with praise and thanks for everything we have and all that we are able to do. We will tell others what God has done for us. We will repay God with a faithful love that prevents us from being drawn to any false "Lords."

SO THE QUESTION: WHAT IS YOUR IDOL? CAN YOU STOP WORSHIPING THAT IDOL FOR ONE DAY?

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