Replacements

 There are numerous organizations, programs, and even celebrities promoting lifestyle change. Most are geared to healthier eating and physical fitness but there are a number of programs aimed at smoking cessation and freedom from financial debt. They all have one thing in common. They all promote replacing something harmful or negative with something healthy or positive. The theory is really quite simple; you replace the unwanted behavior or dietary item with one that is more suitable. For example, instead of sprinkling cheddar cheese on a salad you replace the cheese with shredded carrots. The replacement is healthier and lower in calories.

There is another popular replacement process underway. Things once considered inappropriate in society are now being considered appropriate. Right is being replaced with wrong. Kindness and righteousness are being replaced with aggression and immorality. Peace and joy are being taken over by stress and excessiveness. What's the cause of these replacements? Perhaps it is the result of the absence of God in the lives of so many. 

God has been replaced by busyness, entertainment, and a lifestyle that has no place for Him. When God's people replace Him, everyone suffers. There is no substitute for God. He cannot be exchanged for something glitzy or high tech. He is Holy, He is Worthy and He is the One and Only. How are you doing when it comes to your relationship with Jesus Christ? Are you honoring and adoring Him or have you replaced Him with something or someone else?

"Fear the LORD your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land." Deuteronomy 6:13-15