Idolatry?

A few nights ago I looked up at the moon as it sent slivers of silver through the window, and I wondered why people used to worship it. It's not like the sun; it's not as bright, it doesn't give warmth, and it doesn't look like it really does anything. Did people worship it just because it was a shiny thing up in the sky? How foolish and backward.

An instant later I realized that I do things just as stupid every day. I idolize my grades at school; not that I consciously put them on some high plane or really put school first in my life, but I seem to think that my test scores somehow determine my future. In my mind I attribute to them more power than they actually have, a power that only God has. If I really believe that God is in control of my future and can do whatever He wants with me, even if I fail a test or (even worse!) a whole class, He has already taken that into account when mapping out my destiny. He is in control and will do what He wants, whether or not I make an A-, B-, or F!

That doesn't mean I won't study; I will still do my best to use the talents that God has given me to learn as much as I can. But it means that I can trust God with everything, and ask Him for brokenness without saying, "take every area of my life except my grades. I must make good grades..."

It's good to get rid of that burden.

Just as it applied to the pagans who sacrificed constantly to appease the moon god, Jesus' appeal reaches through the centuries and into my life: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."