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Spiritual Buffet?

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30  This God—his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.   -  Psalm 18:30

I, like many people love all you can eat buffets. I think my high school football team my have closed down an USA Steak Buffet near our town. It gets me thinking though about the appeal of spiritual buffets. Many people think about God as if he were a buffet.  Some believe that we can choose a god of our own liking. We stand in line at the buffet (with a clean plate) and get to choose from the many gods that present themselves. OR in a similar way we get to choose something that we would consider worth spending and giving our lives to serve.  Our own unhindered choice, pleasure, freedom, family, or even religious service can be our false gods, that which we serve in place of the true God as described in the Scriptures.  

Or, to stretch the spiritual buffet idea further, many would admit that the only true God is the one in the Bible, but still bring their clean plate to the buffet line to choose which parts of God they want to dish up.  We are all guilty of this from time to time. Some even approach their churches in this way.  But it is no less offensive to God.  We the creatures are basically saying to God our Creator, I like this about you, but not this.  I love your love but hate your truth. I will serve you as I find best and most convenient, but not when it gets uncomfortable. I exist for God to serve me, rather than the other way around. I am not going to pile on my plate what serves and glorifies God, I am going to serve myself what I think is best. It's about our taste, our choice, we hold the serving spoon and the plate. We Decide.  The problem is, that makes you your own god.  

This God. Psalm 18 is talking about a specific God, taken on His terms for His glory. Our God is not one that is chosen among other gods, nor does he allow us to take him in the helping that we deem most beneficial to us.  We take this God on His terms.  It is this God to whom all our preferences bow, our tastes get re-budded and our choosing spoon gets put back in His hand.  To this God that we humble ourselves to let Him be whom He is. This God is the only God. 

That is not a popular view today.  All other so called or false gods have deluded themselves and us to think that they could ever compete with the true God of the Scriptures. He is the Perfect God. His perfection includes his authority, his character and his actions.  "This God - His way is perfect"  God's way refers to everything He is and does.  He rules over all things perfectly, nothing is outside of his authority, meaning there can be no god that compares or even comes close to challenging Him.  God's character is perfect - There never is a flaw or shortcoming in who He is.  Therefore his way, or actions are perfect. Everything that God does is exactly as God should have done.  

His Word is Perfect. This perfect God has given to us His perfect Word.  He is a God that has chosen to perfectly communicate with us who He is and what He is about.  This is grace in written form.  The God of the universe has chosen to speak with us.  And he has done so perfectly.  Many would argue that the Bible that God has given to us has been corrupted, is wrong, has errors or is even made up.  Those people have their plates out are choosing what they do and don’t want on their plates.  The question is, can a perfect God perfectly communicate his word to us? And make sure that it stays that way through history and translation? The answer is, He can AND has. His Word is perfect. The word of the LORD proves true.

“He is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.” He is the Perfect Refuge.  Our verse finishes here with the comforting thought that God is a shield and protector specifically for “those who take refuge in him.” This is important to remember. When we wrongly think of God as standing in line at the spiritual buffet we generally do so to pile our plates high with is comfort, help, love and protection. That’s what most people want from God.  The ones who would receive those things from God however are those who take refuge in God as He is, not as we have chosen for him to be.  They accept that God’s only means of forgiving sin is trust in Jesus Christ.  They believe God’ word to be perfect, without error and strive to submit themselves to it. 

They reject completely the idea that God exists to serve them what they want at their own spiritual buffet and take instead what God has decided to be best. They resist the temptation to be their own God or their own authority and instead trust God to be the authority, in His way for His purposes.  Put down the buffet plate and serving spoon.  Instead take up God as he really is on His terms. You’ll never go hungry.



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