Daniel (Greek) 14:23-27: in context

In Babylon there was a great dragon that the people worshiped as a living god, and the king challenged Daniel: this one is no lifeless image of bronze; he lives, he eats and drinks; you cannot deny he is a living god, so worship him. But Daniel refused: I will worship the Lord my God, for he is the living God. And he offered to prove the dragon was no god at all. He made lumps of pitch, fat, and hair, and fed them to the dragon, which ate them and burst apart. Behold, Daniel said, these are the gods you worship.

Daniel's demonstration exposes the emptiness of idols. The dragon seemed more impressive than a lifeless statue; it moved, it ate, it appeared alive. And yet a few lumps of pitch and fat destroyed it. Whatever appearance of life or power it had, it was no god; it could not even preserve itself, bursting apart at a simple trick. Daniel's point was devastating: these are the gods you worship, things with no real power, unable to save even themselves, empty for all their impressive appearance. The idol, whatever its show of life, was nothing. This exposes the folly at the heart of all idolatry. Idols, whether the literal images of the ancient world or the modern things we give our ultimate devotion to, promise much and deliver nothing; they seem impressive, even alive with power, and yet they are empty, unable to save, powerless to help in the day of need. Their idols, the psalmist says, have mouths but cannot speak, eyes but cannot see; those who make them and trust them become like them. To worship what has no real power, to give our devotion to what cannot help or save, is the folly Daniel exposed. The dragon burst apart at a trick; and the idols we might trust, for all their appearance, are equally empty. This calls us to worship the living God rather than empty idols. The modern idols we may be tempted to trust, wealth, status, power, self, the things we give our ultimate devotion to, promise much and are, in the end, as empty as Daniel's dragon, unable to save us or help us in our deepest need. Only the living God is real, able to help and save; and to worship him rather than the empty idols is the wisdom that Daniel's demonstration urges. I will worship the Lord my God, Daniel said, for he is the living God. The idols, for all their impressive appearance, are empty and powerless; but the living God is real, and worthy of our whole devotion. This searches where our trust and devotion actually rest. Are we, in some way, worshiping empty idols, giving our ultimate devotion to things that promise much but deliver nothing, that cannot save us in our need, as the dragon could not even save itself? Daniel exposed the emptiness of the idol and worshiped the living God; and we are called to do the same, turning from the empty idols we might trust, whatever their impressive appearance, to worship and rely on the living God, who alone is real and able to save.

Am I, in some way, giving my ultimate devotion to empty idols, whether wealth, status, power, or self, things that promise much but deliver nothing and cannot save me in my deepest need, and can Daniel, who exposed the emptiness of the worshiped dragon by making it burst apart and declared, I will worship the Lord my God, for he is the living God, move me to turn from the empty idols I might trust, whatever their appearance, to worship and rely on the living God, who alone is real and able to save?