Claiming to be wise, they became fools
It's our fallen, sinful nature to be self reliant. In our lost state, the last thing that we want to do is recognize the fact that we are reliant on an all powerful God. So, we claim to be able to make the correct decisions on our own, claiming to be wise on our terms. This is the heart of the issue for fallen man, the attempt to be self reliant in order to refuse submission to a sovereign God.
Paul has explained to us here what happens when man attempts to proclaim himself wise on his own terms - he becomes a fool.
Fool: fool here is different than foolish hearts in the previous verse - that meant wicked, this means to become insipid (bland, without stimulating or distinctive qualities), to become a simpleton (ignorant).
This describes man without God - no distinctive qualities that are useful to the glory of God, ignorant and unaware of his lost state - all a result of choosing to be self reliant.
We may think that, as Christians, we are less susceptible to falling into this trap of self reliance, but it may not be as clear as we think. I believe that ignoring the convictions of the Holy Spirit, refusing or pushing off following God's clear leading, failing to step out in faith when called by God to do so - all of these are examples of relying on our human wisdom rather than submitting to an immortal, incorruptible God.
If we continue on this path for any period of time, we can become unaware of our circumstance and fail to address the situation as it gets progressively worse. Thankfully, as Christians, we know that God will eventually bring us back, but the road of God's discipline is not always fun while taking place. It is much better for us, and more glorifying to God, if we continually pray for awareness of our self reliance so that we can purge it from our lives, and submit completely to our awesome God!
and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
When man attempts to rely on human wisdom and desires in place of submitting to God, he automatically exchanges the glory of God for something else. Described here are "images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things." - This might paint a picture in our head of the typical idols set up so that people can come and bow down - that was and is true in certain places. However, it can be much more subtle than that - anything that takes priority over God becomes an idol and a transgression of the first commandment - "Have no other gods before me."
Some may be obvious - sports, hobbies, collections, possessions, etc - however things that may seem perfectly good can also become idols if they take priority over God - volunteering, ministries, church functions, church itself can even become an idol.
Due to the fact that it is the nature of our flesh, which we battle every day, it is crucial that we cry out to God without ceasing, that He would reveal to us where our lives are hindering our witness for Him, that He would give us the strength to purge these idols from our life and give us a pure love for Him alone, that He would take priority over every single thing in our life - so that we might not become fools, ignorant and unable to recognize our sin, bland and ineffective for the glory of God.
If you feel moved to comment on these verses, I pray that you would. We can all grow so much from sharing words of wisdom and encouragement with each other!
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