The Piece of Wood in my Hand
"The blacksmith stands at his forge to make a sharp tool, pounding and shaping it with all his might. His work makes him hungry and weak. It makes him thirsty and faint. Then the wood-carver measures a block of wood and draws a pattern on it. He works with chisel and plane and carves it into a human figure. He gives it human beauty and puts it in a little shrine. He cuts down cedars; he selects the cypress and the oak; he plants the pine in the forest to be nourished by the rain. Then he uses part of the wood to make a fire. With it he warms himself and bakes his bread. Then—yes, it’s true—he takes the rest of it and makes himself a god to worship! He makes an idol and bows down in front of it! He burns part of the tree to roast his meat and to keep himself warm. He says, “Ah, that fire feels good.”
Then he takes what’s left and makes his god: a carved idol! He falls down in front of it, worshiping and praying to it. “Rescue me!” he says. “You are my god!”
Such stupidity and ignorance! Their eyes are closed, and they cannot see. Their minds are shut, and they cannot think. The person who made the idol never stops to reflect, “Why, it’s just a block of wood! I burned half of it for heat and used it to bake my bread and roast my meat. How can the rest of it be a god? Should I bow down to worship a piece of wood?” The poor, deluded fool feeds on ashes. He trusts something that can’t help him at all. Yet he cannot bring himself to ask, “Is this idol that I’m holding in my hand a lie?”
Isaiah 44:12-20 NLT
Wooden idols were considered the 'poor man's idol', in comparison to a metal one that a blacksmith made. Here, Isaiah paints a picture of a simple poor man, who is gathering wood to make a fire. He bakes his bread, and he starts to get creative as he waits for the bread to cook. The wood that slowly turns to ash in the fireplace from the bread is as worthless as the wood he uses to construct his idol. Broken down it is not worthless ash as well? Yet he turns to it for help and the whole time he lies to himself. He looks at what his own human hands created to come and save him, to set him free. But his human hands can't make a god. However, he is still there, on his knees, feeding himself lies. He cannot bring himself to ask, 'Is this idol that I'm holding in my hand a lie?' (Isaiah 44:20).
Today, we too tell ourselves lies. We devote ourselves to worthless things to help us. Try to construct things to save us out of our own ability. What modern day idols do we hold onto? What idol do you construct with your own hands? Today, our idols aren't as blatant as Isaiah portrays. Our idols take on different images, a lot of time images that we can't put on a shelf and portray in front of us. We walk around with idols of pride, ego, materialism, power, self-fulfillment, and desires. We walk around saying if I could just have......., I would be happy. I would be fulfilled. Or then my life would be good. But truthfully, we will always be unsatisfied if we look to these worldly things to satisfy us. It is there that we build an idol with our hands, and hold onto a lie. Only the one true God can satisfy our desires for peace, justice, and love.
Yet we walk around blind to the idol in our hands. Totally, unaware that we are looking in the wrong place for these things that only Jesus Christ can bring us. Verse 18 talks about their minds being shut, they cannot see what is blatantly in front of them. It would seem helpless here. If I cannot even see what is the lie I am holding onto, how can I let go of it? But we serve a God who is in the business of restoring sight. I think back to Acts 26, where Paul recalls the words of Jesus to him. He speaks of our one true God and tells that God is coming to open eyes so that we may turn from darkness to light (Acts 26:18).
I need my eyes opened. I need my sight restored. I am reminded again of the strength I put in my own hands. You see my idol isn't something I put on a wall and worship. But something I make with my own bare hands. When I run into trouble I don't often look to Christ who can save me. I look to my own ability to set me free. Is it ironic to look for salvation from my own limited human hands, instead of the One who has no limitations. I am reminded again to turn to God in my needs, first. What do you turn to for help? What do you turn to to save you?
