Psalm 115 4-8
Their idols are merely things of silver and gold,
shaped by human hands. They cannot talk, though they have mouths, or see, though they have eyes! They cannot hear with their ears,
or smell with their noses, or feel with their hands, or walk with their feet or utter sounds with their throats! And those who make them are just like them, as are all who trust in them.
 
Old Idols
When I was young back in the day there was no American Idol on TV. However, there were teen idols galore.  This was pre-MTV days, but musicians who were idolized usually made their way to the Midnight Special every Friday night on NBC (pre-Fox days too). The show came on at 10:30 and stayed on until 12, thus the name "Midnight Special."  If you can fathom pre-video days, imagine the only way to actually see artists singing the songs you loved was by catching them on a show such as the Special. 
 
I remember there were lots of rock bands and solo rockers who came on. I thought they all were amazing. There was no Simon there to point out their flaws. 
 
My sister and I sat on the floor in front of our 21" color console watching every move and listening to every note.  This was also pre-VCR days. If your favorite idol performed, you best record the performance in your head to be replayed over and over. We did have a cassette tape recorder.  Many nights we would put it right in front of the television and record the sound of the singers as well as the sounds of our squealing and singing along with them.  
 
 Now we thought we were high tech before there was such a thing as high tech.  I think we thought we invented the concept of taping idol performances.  We would play the tapes over and over, never realizing if we had kept quiet, we could have actually heard the song. Also if we had not watched so blindly we probably would have seen they weren't all idol material.
 
Through the years I played the old tapes until they broke and quit playing. Good thing I did have some of those performances recorded in my mind I suppose.
Last week I got to see one of my old idols at the Orpheum Theatre in Memphis.  When I say old idol that is not just a figurative phrase. Gordon Lightfoot, who I loved with my whole heart for the first time in 1973 as I heard him sing "That Same Old Obsession," is now 73. He can still sing, but for the entire concert, I cried a lot.  It was just so sad to see him as he is now and remember how he once was. I did indeed record all those past Midnight Special performances of Gordon's in my mind. In my mind, he had remained forever young as he was when I saw him sing "If You Could Read My Mind Love", that is until I saw him as he is now. 
 
Mr. Lightfoot was never a rocker. He is from Canada and sang love songs and ballads. His songs all told beautiful stories. I think that is why I loved him so. He wrote as I dreamed of writing. He was pretty too and of course, that gave him a lot of points.  I had every album he ever made until I decided to give them all away several years back.  
 
When I found a true relationship with Christ I began to give up a lot of things that seemed un-Christ like. I also gave up things I thought I valued more than Christ. I gave up things I thought were idols I suppose. I didn't have a lot of bad habits to do away with, but I wanted to make a sacrifice for Christ. So, I gave up things that may not sound all that wrong, but they were things I loved, things I feared I valued more than Christ, and which took time from me that I could spend with Him. I gave up things such as Mt. Dew, TV, old books and writings of mine about science fiction, the occult, reincarnation, etc. and of course all my albums and tapes of all secular music, including the object of much love, affection, and obsession...Gordon.
 
As I watched him and heard him speak of his recent health scare, a burst artery which caused him to go into a coma, a trachea in his throat when he came out of it,  his long journey back to health and finding his voice again, I wondered did this old idol of mine know my Jesus.
I heard the story from many fans there at the concert of how it was a miracle he was still alive. I wondered did Gordon know it was a miracle. I wondered where this man, who wrote songs for so many old idols including Elvis himself, would spend eternity. God obviously wasn't done with him as He allowed him to overcome such a great health ordeal and recover and go on to perform again and again. 
 
I pray my old idol knows this is a miracle. I pray he finds what purpose God has for him.  I pray he will stand on stage after stage one day soon and proclaim the healing power of Jesus Christ he has experienced before his performance here on earth ends forever.
 
This week think about some things you possess.  Is
there anything in your life that you value more than Christ?  Take a closer look.  Are you looking at some things blindly,  not really seeing them as they really are?  Are you valuing things you hear not realizing that if you listen carefully, some of these things just make a lot of noise?  Be careful not to trust in manmade things of silver and gold, high tech or low tech. Also, be careful not to place your trust in those who make them. 
 
God is our source.  He changes not.  He is forever the same.  He can read our minds and loves us anyway.  He should be our only obsession. 
 
jbp