The impotence & the power of gods

'Can man make for himself gods? Such are not gods!'       Jeremiah 16:20

There is huge irony in this: in one sense, we are incapable of making a god. We can't make a true god who acts or speaks.
And yet we are always making gods; gods that exert immense power & influence over us, gods that we serve and adore, gods we love and follow, gods who enslave us and won't let us go. But these 'gods' are no gods at all. They can't speak or act. And yet they enthrall us.

The heart is deceitful above all things, and despreately sick; who can understand it?    Jer 17:9

And the unutterable sadness is that they draw us away from the true, living, speaking, acting, faithful, loving, Lord God Almighty who longs to save us from the slavery of these not-gods. No wonder God is so angry with his people when they abandon him for such things.

Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord.      Jeremiah 17:5

So what's the cure for our stupidity?

Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is in the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water...        Jeremiah 17:8

What could be more obvious and yet more hidden? Trust not in the stupid little gods we make, but in the Lord who made us and everything else, who was before all things and will be forever. Trust him who came to us in his Son and demonstrated the full extent of his love, faithfulness and goodness.