Why do we pursue the substitute when we can have the real thing?

Idolatry is still such a problem.  We provoke the Lord to jealousy when we go after idols.  They do nothing for us, yet we still go to them as though they have power to help us.  We act like they have power to overcome our lives for us.  We worship them as though they are going to reciprocate somehow.  We thank them as though they provided for us.  We serve them as though they were our masters.  But, all this does is lead us further and further away from the One who has the power to overcome our situations.  It takes worship from the One who will respond to that worship with loving kindness.  It takes our energy to serve from the One who first served us by dying for us and is are true Master.  The Corinthians were coming from a background of idolatry.  Paul was trying to show them the freedom they now had in Christ.  They did not have to go after worthless idols anymore.  They now served the Living God who is real and is powerful.  No longer did they need to go to the table of demons because they could go to the table of the Lord.  Why do we choose the garbage when we could have a feast?  Why do we take the substitute when we could have the real thing?  This is the human condition.  We are so prone to turning to the tangible because we think the tangible things of this world have power.  But, the only power they have is the power that we give them.  The power that God has was given to Him by no one.  He is all-powerful and always has been.  He is the One that can overcome our human condition and make us new.  He is the One that can deliver us from our tendency to turn to the idols of this world.  We were prone to wander, but He is prone to deliver.  We are prone to turn, but He is prone to pursue.  One of the greatest truths about God that is often overlooked is that He is a God who pursues us.  He does not leave us alone.  He pursues us with a passion because He wants to deliver us from a life of idolatry.  He wants to deliver us from the lives of substitutes.  He wants to give us the real thing; Himself.  This is true love.  This is a love that conquers all.  This is a love that never fails.  This is a love that we and the world desperately needs.