Jeremiah 10:5, 10
5 Like a scarecrow in a melon patch, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do you any good. …10 But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King. When he is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure his wrath.

Here, Jeremiah compares false idols, which the Israelites’ neighboring nations worship, to God–and it’s a hard-hitting analysis. Not only are the idols powerless to speak or act, unlike God, but they also can neither do harm or good–they and the customs associated with them are ultimately “worthless,” as Jeremiah states in verse 3. In contrast to God, Who is the omnipotent, holy creator, these false idols are worth no more than the earthly materials they’re made of.

Why is this distinction so important? Because the Israelites have been repeatedly lured away from God by false idols of all sorts; the Old Testament is brimming with examples of Israel’s spiritual drifting, waffling between devout belief in God and the slow leak of worldly values into worship. Jeremiah knew that if he was to reach God’s people, he had to first snap them out of their belief in all these false idols. These idols were only dragging their attention away from God, when they should have been depending on Him most.

Today, we modern Christians must battle a similar tide of worldliness leaking into our faith life every day. This problem is not just an “ancient-Israel” thing–sin and false idols are still powerfully attractive to our human natures, and so the tug-of-war between the flesh and the spirit continues. None of us are immune, not even church leaders; sometimes, we worship false idols without even realizing it (worshipping church power, money, or accomplishments, anyone?). So Jeremiah’s words speak to us, too–even though modern false idols might be amazingly sparkly, they still cannot match up to the power and love of God!