The Lord of All, the Only God

My church's Lent theme for this week is "worship"--the central focus of every human life. Wherever the majority of our time is directed, that is what we really worship. Judging my thought life and leisure activities by that criterion, I must worship learning, vicarious excitement, and variety for the sake of variety.

Not that any of the above are wrong in themselves, or incapable of being used for God-honoring purposes--any more than it's inherently sinful to love football, backpacking, or Web surfing. But when we say of any earthly thing, "Nothing will make me give that up even temporarily," or (if we don't want to be quite that stiff-necked), "I'll give that up only if God directly and unmistakably tells me to [and I intend to leave all possible room for doubt]"--that's a sure sign we're worshiping a created thing rather than the Creator (cf. Rom. 1:25). Whenever we convince ourselves we can't live without something, we are raising that thing to the position of God, the Source of Life.

He should also be the Master of our lives, but in the more affluent world at least, most of us are constantly trying to displace Him. Not that we consciously tell Him to go away and not bother us, but we do effectively the same thing whenever we make plans without considering how He may feel about it. Or when we're actually afraid to ask, in case He disagrees with us. Or when we "go through the motions" of weekly church attendance and daily Bible reading and then assume we've "done our part"--even though we never once made conscious effort to listen for His guidance or otherwise learn anything.

Jesus warned us in Mt. 6:24 (NIV) that "no one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." Or Knowledge, or Food, or Entertainment, or any of the other earthly things that clamor for our loyalty. Frightening thought: if we let these claim our devotion, we are not politely asking God to wait; we are effectively despising Him!

Such an attitude is as universal as it is foolish. Since temporary things are so obvious, it is easy to begin relying on them. Focusing on God and His Word is considerable work by comparison. Considerable work--but essential if we want to make spiritual progress.

We can be grateful, however, that God is not only patient with our failures, but is Himself the true Strength that, bit by bit, overcomes our weaknesses.

The Lord of All, the Only God,
Demands each life in full:
But still we try to serve this world,
Drawn off by its strong pull.

My great Creator, fill my soul:
All other loves dethrone,
Till I forget all lesser things,
And You are Lord Alone.

Our God, Who made the sea and skies,
Is Lord of all that is:
But earthly things distract our thoughts,
And take from what is His.

My great Creator, fill my soul:
All other loves dethrone,
Till I forget all lesser things,
And You are Lord Alone.

Our Father made our minds and souls,
And gives our lives each breath:
But still, our sinful hearts prefer
The road that ends in death.

My great Creator, fill my soul:
All other loves dethrone,
Till I forget all lesser things,
And You are Lord Alone.

Our Savior gave His life for us,
To make our way to heaven:
But we prefer earth's fleeting joys
To all that He has given.

My great Creator, fill my soul:
All other loves dethrone,
Till I forget all lesser things,
And You are Lord Alone.

The Holy Spirit guides our lives,
Gives strength to meet each test:
But we ignore His voice and let
The good crowd out the best.

My great Creator, fill my soul:
All other loves dethrone,
Till I forget all lesser things,
And You are Lord Alone.

We dare not trust our mortal strength
To keep us in God's ways:
No, we must trust His power and help,
And give to Him our praise.

My great Creator, fill my soul:
All other loves dethrone,
Till I forget all lesser things,
And You are Lord Alone.

My great Creator, fill my soul:
All other loves dethrone,
Till I forget all lesser things,
And You are Lord Alone.