He had it all. A stunning intellect, creativity, drive, wealth, success, and a wonderful family. When he was 20, he founded a computer company with his friend Steve, and in just 10 years, the company grew to be worth 2 billion and had over 4,000 employees. When he was 30, he was fired from the company he had founded, but that gave him the opportunity to pursue new interests, and he founded two new companies: NeXT and Pixar. Not long after, his previous company purchased NeXT, and he found himself once again on the leading edge of the technology industry.
If you haven’t guessed it yet, I’m talking about Steve Jobs.
Jobs had everything anyone could want, but also something which ultimately led to his death in the form of an idol: food. Jobs was obsessed with food to the point that it dominated his life and relationships. He trusted in the power of food, believing certain diets gave him increased energy and vitality, which, he believed, gave him control and fueled his drive and creativity. When he was diagnosed with a rare version of pancreatic cancer that is almost always curable with prompt surgery, Jobs refused the surgery and instead opted to pursue diets that he believed would cure him.
Tragically, his obsession failed him, and Jobs passed away at the age of 56 in 2011.
Even more tragic is that Jobs’ story isn’t unique. There are many similar stories of folks who placed their trust in various human idols, which at best had a humbling result, and at worst, a tragic one.
It’s an old story, and it’s one that is unfolding for the people of God in this passage in Isaiah.
Isaiah is so concerned about the pride, arrogance, and idolatry of God’s people that he pulls no punches as he quickly calls the people to account in this chapter.
The people are no longer trusting God but trusting in themselves, in their abilities, in their possessions, and in other people, basically anyone and anything but the Lord. They think that because their wealth is overflowing, they are perfectly fine and, in the process, they have turned away from the Lord and are worshipping the works of their own hands.
However, the reality is that God alone is exalted above all things and people, and here, Isaiah is speaking about the ultimate fall of the people as they arrogantly pursue these idols. It’s interesting that the fall of the southern kingdom of Judah is going to happen because they were witnesses to the fall of Israel, the northern kingdom, at the hands of Assyria. The northern kingdom of Israel was in the same position as the southern kingdom of Judah. The northern kingdom of Israel had wealth and abundance and placed its trust in its own strength and resources rather than the Lord, and ultimately, Israel was destroyed by the Assyrians. The sad thing is that the southern kingdom of Judah has not learned from Israel’s example.
It’s a tragic moment for the people of God.
As I shake my head at what happened, I need to take a moment and look at myself in the mirror. I’m tempted to sit here in my chair and say, “How could they let that happen?” But before we do that, before we sit in judgment on them, we must look at our own lives. How often does that same problem arise in our lives every day? How often do we turn to the Lord and seek His face, His will for our lives in all that we do?
If you’re anything like me, sometimes you don’t even realize that you’ve done this, that you’ve placed your trust in something other than the Lord.
I know that I struggle with this issue at times, but there is a solution so that we do not fall short. Seek the Lord. This is something which we can do because Jesus has opened the way for us through His death on the cross.
I cannot encourage you enough to seek the Lord first and to do that every day! If possible, don’t let anything happen in your day until you first come to the Lord and affirm Jesus as the center of your life.
So do your best to affirm Jesus as the center of your life first thing in the morning. Affirm His lordship over everything about you, at work, at home, in your family and in every relationship.
It is a tremendous, freeing, blessing to trust in the Lord and to be present with Him at the start of your day, and the truth is, He is waiting for you to meet with Him, whether you’re on time or not. He is still there, even now, waiting to be with you.
God bless you.
Scott