“Lord, there is no one like you! For you are great, and your name is full of power.”
—Jeremiah 10:6

Question: What do all of these have in common?
1. Tofu
2. Veggie burgers
3. Mountain Lightning®
4. Substitute teachers
Answer: They are all substitutes for the original.
And regardless of their value, most substitutes are portrayed as “just the same,” or “as good as the original.” But in reality, are they? Not usually. (Except for maybe substitute teachers. Everyone loves them.)
Substitutes and replacements are everywhere. And although many of us don’t realize it, much of our time is spent trying to fill voids with substitutes and replacements rather than reaching for the real stuff.
Are we doing the same with God?
Although money, jobs, titles, and successes aren’t necessarily bad things, when they start becoming our source of worth, they become a worthless attempt at replacing the fulfillment God offers—the only true fulfillment.
The reality is, you can’t replace the irreplaceable. God is unending, all powerful, and life giving. And that is awesome news! Jobs, relationships, money, success, health … all of these things can be pulled out from under us in an instant. When these things are all we have and they suddenly disappear, we’re wrecked.
When we put all of our hope and need for fulfillment in God, we will never be let down. To think that we could replace his love with something of this world immediately forfeits our belief in his power and majesty. I love what the prophet Isaiah says about fulfillment: “The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring” (Isa 58:11).

VERSE OF THE DAY

“For there is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus”
(1 Timothy 2:5).

Wilson, J. (2016). 30 words: a devotional for the rest of us. (2nd Edition, Ed.) (pp. 8–10). Bellingham, WA: Kirkdale Press.