Session 1

An Uneven Exchange

From Romans: A 16-Day Devotional

Everything we do revolves around an exchange. We exchange time for money. We exchange money for goods. We exchange goods for services rendered.

At the end of Romans 1, Paul writes about another exchange we sometimes make. “They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator — who is forever praised” (Romans 1:25). Paul saw people all around him worshipping their possessions or obsessions, instead of God who gave them those things in the first place.

Trading the Creator for His creation is never an even exchange.

It’s hard to believe we would exchange the joy of knowing the Creator of the Universe to worship someone or something He created. But we do. We chase the high of having the latest gadgets, the satisfaction of landing the big deal, or the admiration of other parents, instead of finding our identity in knowing God and being His child.

Proverbs 4:23 warns us to guard our hearts, because the heart is where worship starts. We are born with a yearning in our souls. It’s the part of us that wonders why we’re here, what the point of life is, and whether we’re doing it right. We can try to fulfill that yearning by being the best at work, the perfect parent, or the guy with the latest upgrades, but we’ll never gain enough accolades or money to make our lives meaningful. Trading the Creator for His creation is never an even exchange.

Jesus left His throne in heaven to sit on the throne of our hearts. Don’t buy the lie that anything less than Him is worthy of our worship.

Reflect:

• Want to know what you worship? Think about the following:
  • What do you spend most of your time doing and thinking about?
  • Where do you spend your money?
  • How are you using your talent?
  • How do you introduce yourself to others?
• Have you allowed something or someone to replace Jesus on the throne of your heart? If so, what’s one change you can make this week to get your priorities back in order?