The Idolatry of
Selfishness

Isaiah 44:20 says “
He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver
himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?” ”

These is the sad
character given of idolaters:

First, the idolater
puts a cheat upon himself, “He feed on ashes.”

“They feed
themselves with hopes of advantage by worshipping these idols, but they will be
disappointed as much as a man that would expect nourishment by feeding on ashes.
Feeding on ashes is an evidence of a depraved appetite and a distempered body.
It is a sign that the soul is overpowered by very bad habits when men, in their
worship, go no further than the sight of their eyes will carry them. They are
wretchedly deluded, and it is their own fault.

“A deceived heart of
their own, more than the deceiving tongue of others, has turned them aside from
the faith and worship of the living God to dumb idols. They are drawn away of
their own lusts and enticed. The apostasy of sinners from God is owing entirely
to themselves and to the evil heart of unbelief that is in their own bosom. A
revolting and rebellious heart is a deceived heart” (Matthew Henry).

The ashes that we
eat are the things that we vainly pursue in this world. Be careful! Even the
seemingly innocent pursuits of career advancement or high remuneration, desire
for comfort (relaxation, spa or vacation) or immigration are considered
ashes.

The Bible doesn’t
condemn us if we pursue to become rich. The Scriptures say that the Lord blesses
the labors of the hands of those who work hard. Jesus didn’t condemn Joseph of
Arimathea for being rich. Who did God judged for his foolishness? It was the
rich farmer in Luke 12:16-21. Why? He was so greedy. He just focused on the
things that he could amass in this world forgetting to keep treasures that will
last for eternity. Alas, his soul was required of him. Now who benefited from
his fortune? Tell me who would benefit if you become rich in this world and you
become poor in eternity, assuming that you are saved?

How much of our time
is spent in the study of the Bible? In Intercession? In church? Or do we spend
more time working to earn a keep? Are we doing so many overtime in the office
and justify that we are doing this for our family? How much of our money goes to
the work of the Lord? In supporting a missionary? Are we even giving our
tithes?

We say that we’ll
buy MP3 gadgets so that we could hear hymns or good preaching. We say that we’ll
buy the latest 3-G cellphones to be of accountability to other
Christians.

Again be careful,
the small things, the seemingly innocent reasons that we have could be pretext
for greed (I Thess. 2:5).

God gave us time to
prepare for eternity. If we are not spending it wisely, we are stealing time
from God. If not for God we won’t even experience sitting in front of the
computer reading this e-mail in our office.

Where do we place
our affections? Have our affections turned us away from the faith? Are we
blinded by our idols that we fail to have a lofty concept of the majesty of the
Divine?

Do we still devour
on materials that picture sexual immorality, greed and all of the sinful things
that Christ died for? Don’t we ever consider that it is a crime to patronize the
things that Jesus died for?

Are we still
entangled with an unbeliever and proclaim that Christ is Lord? What mockery of
the faith!

Here are the ashes
that we eat, my friends.

Idolatry is a terrible sin. It
is simply wickedness in the eyes of God. If we have this attitude of amassing
the riches of the world then our self is the very idol we worship. We are guilty
of selfishness. We covet to please and serve
ourselves!

Idolaters are like chaffs
driven away by the wind (Ps. 1:4). Are ashes better than the chaffs? Eating
ashes is also like what Solomon calls striving after the
wind.

Second, the idolater
willfully persist in his self-delusion and will not be undeceived, “Is there not
a lie in my right hand?”

“There is none of an
idolater that can be persuaded so far to suspect himself as to say, “Is there
not a lie in my right hand?” and so to think of delivering his soul” (Matthew
Henry).

The idolater fails
to see the lie in what he is doing. He is utterly deceived. The heart of this
person has grown so callous to feel any conviction. He doesn’t care if he feeds
on ashes.

Consider:

1. Idolaters have a
lie in their right hand. An idol is a lie, is not what it pretends, performs not
what it promises, and it is a teacher of lies (Hab. 2:18, “What profit is an
idol when its maker has shaped it, a metal image, a teacher of lies? For its
maker trusts in his own creation when he makes speechless idols!”).

2. It highly
concerns those that are secure in an evil way seriously to consider whether
there be not a lie in their right hand. Is not that a lie which with complacency
we hold fast as our chief good? Are our hearts set upon the wealth of the world
and the pleasures of sense? They will certainly prove a lie in our right hand.
And is not that a lie which with confidence we hold fast by, as the ground on
which we build our hopes for heaven? If we trust to our external professions and
performances, as if those would save us, we deceive ourselves with a lie in our
right hand, with a house built on the sand.

3. Self-suspicion is
the first step towards self-deliverance. We cannot be faithful to ourselves
unless we are jealous of ourselves. He that would deliver his soul must begin
with putting this question to his own conscience. Is there not a lie in my right
hand?

It is of necessity
that we ask ourselves, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?” If we are unable
to do so, we will just continue in our delusion and we could not avail
hope.

4. Those that are
given up to believe in a lie are under the power of strong delusions, which it
is hard to get clear of (2 Thess. 2:11, “Therefore God sends them a strong
delusion, so that they may believe what is false,”).

The Holy Spirit
brings conviction to sinful man (John 16:8-11). If we find ourselves guilty then
hasten to God and ask for His forgiveness and be cleansed (1 John 1:9). If we
grieve the Spirit of God, it could be too late for us. For who can contend God
who could give us up to our persistence to this idolatry of
selfishness?

In 1646, the
mathematical genius Blaise Pascal made experiments on atmospheric pressures. The
following year he has proved to his satisfaction that a vacuum existed. On 23
November 1654, and he pledged his life to Christianity, after meeting an
accident involving his carriage. He is the one who said, “There is a God
shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created
thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.”

The heart of man cannot be
satisfied. It desires for more and more. What if we earn Php200,000 a month, are
we going to be satisfied? Content? I don’t believe
so.

Pascal is right. Only an
infinite God could give us the satisfaction and contentment from what we call
now to eternity.

If we are selfish, we will die poor. If we
die to ourselves, become selfless and relinquish everything of our concerns to
the Lord, we will gain immeasurable blessings. Mark 8:35-36 says, “For
whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My
sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the
whole world, and forfeit his soul?”

To be idolatrously selfish is to say that
God does not exist. Again quoting Pascal, “If God does not exist, one
will lose nothing by believing in him, while if he does exist, one will lose
everything by not believing.”

To be idolatrously selfish is to say that
we are immortal and the world will last forever. 1 John 2:17 says, “The
world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of
God lives forever.”