Our culture is obsessed with celebrities. Celebrity fascination has always been around in one form or another, but today it takes a particularly morbid form. We have this perverse fascination with the private lives of these allegedly glamorous people who adorn our cinema and television screens. The highest profile prizes seem not to be the various Nobel prizes for the arts and sciences but prizes for best actor and actress in the make-believe world of entertainment. People seem to be obsessed with image and identity. When we live disconnected from God it leaves a giant identity vacuum in our hearts that we try to fill with the admiration of others. We naturally worship those who we most want to be like, so perhaps the celebrity craze has something to do with this. Fame seems to be the ultimate form of validation, but it is quite empty because it is bestowed by a public that is not worthy to bestow identity on anyone. That’s God’s prerogative. If you walk with God you may not be famous but you will shine brightly. That’s what we are told here in 13:9: “The light of the righteous shines brightly, but the lamp of the wicked is snuffed out.” The lamp of celebrity doesn’t really shed much light. In many cases it only casts shadows. So, let’s stop this morbid fascination with tabloid media stories of celebrity lives lest we find ourselves pursuing this image of humanity. Don’t pursue fame and reputation whether in matters great or small. Pursue your God ordained purpose and you will shine brighter and longer than the biggest stars.
Ask God to make you shine bright for his purpose today.
Read Proverbs 13:1-12
