You're listening to Encounter, a simple daily podcast made possible by listeners like

you.

We hope to help you discover sacred moments in the middle of ordinary days.

If you would enjoy more seasonal and topical meditations, I encourage you to download

the encountering piece mobile app, where all of the meditations are free, as they should

be.

Christians spend a fortune on products to show others that they are Christians, crosses

we wear, t-shirts with clever sayings, bumper stickers, and even fish decals on our cars.

Then, there's the endless stream of social media posts, with profound quotes from our

favorite Bible teachers.

We're all guilty of it.

I am chief among that sin, but it's important to ask ourselves, why do we do that?

Are these outward signs meant to glorify God, or glorify ourselves, honestly?

Recently I was in a coffee shop, and my Bible was on the table.

I'm old and so is my Bible, both of us are well-worn.

One walked by and tapped on my Bible, and whispered, wow, you can tell you're a good

Christian.

I just sank in my chair.

I'm not good.

There is nothing good in me, apart from Christ in me.

But I realized that even my worn, used Bible had become an idol, and it means to show people

that I spent time there.

...