Photo by Martin H. MacDonald

My heart pounded. The altimeter read 15,000 feet. We could barely move with 180 in full gear packed into the cargo hold of a 727 jet. The green light flashed and our 10 man team moved to the exit. I went headfirst down the stairs and was taken by the relative wind under the tail, like being shot out of a cannon! The 170 miles-per-hour force of it was disorienting. When I’d slowed to terminal velocity and spotted my teammates it was time for parachutes. Sadly, we did not join together in a star formation; velocity had scattered us like puzzle pieces across the blue sky.

Our family and church lives can be like that. We intend to form something beautiful in a partnership with God that brings Him glory. But our tension-filled, high velocity lives scatter us, pull us away from the worship of God and separate us from one another. We are distracted by scores of little gods forcing their way into our lives. Busyness, stress, and financial pressure are disorienting and fracturing. Jesus, family, and community take a back seat to the tyranny of the urgent. Our relationships need mending, especially the one with God.

Jesus rebukes Satan in Matthew 4:10 saying, “For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’ Let’s banish the other gods and reform our connection with the one God of the universe. He’ll help us re-form the rest.

Lord God, help me today to return godship to you.