Hip hop was my life as a teenager. I wrote rap lyrics, saved pocket money for cassette singles, and dreamed of music industry stardom whilst grudgingly completing a theology degree to satisfy my parents.

Music was supposed to be my provider, my comforter, my identity, my everything. When talent contests told me I “sounded good but didn’t look the part,” when my DIY sound system embarrassed me at university parties, when people brought their own CDs because my underground hip hop collection couldn’t satisfy diverse crowds, I felt like I was failing at life itself.

That’s what happens when we worship lesser gods.

Music hadn’t failed me – I had failed to understand its proper place. Music makes a brilliant tool but a terrible deity. When we expect created things to provide what only the Creator can offer, we set ourselves up for devastating disappointment.

I think of Israel’s two prominent bodies of water: the Sea of Galilee, teeming with life because water flows in and out, and the Dead Sea, lifeless because nothing flows out. When our motivation becomes a self-serving reservoir rather than a life-giving river, we create environments where nothing meaningful can survive.

The solution isn’t to give up your passions but to link them to their true Source. When Jesus becomes your identity, your skills turn into tools for His purposes, not altars for your ego. Let his Spirit flow into your life.

What lesser god are you serving? What created thing are you expecting to provide what only the Creator can deliver?