Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
“If I were hungry, I would not tell you.”
God, in Psalm 50:12
It is a common claim of religious folk around the world that they are “doing something for the Lord.” And congregations of believers around the world are encouraged to do things for God. But doing something for God is impossible for men. No righteous man in the Bible ever claimed to do anything for God. On the contrary, they all sought God so that He might do something for them. David acknowledged this truth when he sang to God, “My goodness extends not to you, O Lord, but to the saints who are in the earth.” God’s prophets mocked the foolishness of those who worshiped gods of wood and stone, gods who had to have man’s help to move from place to place. It was possible to do something for false gods because they could do nothing for themselves.
Isaiah mocked the gods that the world served (41:23-24): “Show us things that are to come hereafter, that we may know you are gods! Yea, do good, or evil, that we may be dismayed and behold it together. Behold, you are of nothing, and your work is nought. An abomination is he that chooses you.”
So did Jeremiah (10:5): “They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not. They need to be carried about because they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil; neither is it in them to do good.”
What are you doing for your god? If you are serving a god you can do something for, there is no need to fear Him. The God of heaven and earth needs nothing from man and refuses help from men even when they offer it to Him.
Any god that demands that humans do something for him cannot be the God of the Bible.