Hey Carpool Crew, welcome back. I'm Pastor Justin. Happy Saturday. I hope your weekend's off to a great start. You know when it's the morning of the big game, and you can't find your lucky socks, and now the whole day feels like it is going wrong before anything has ever happened? Well, here's the thing that I want you to remember for the ride: lucky socks have no power. Listen to this from Jeremiah chapter ten, verse five. "Like scarecrows in a cucumber patch, their idols can't speak. They must be carried because they can't walk. Do not fear them, for they can do no harm, and they can't do any good." Now, here's what's going on. God's people had started worshiping idols. An idol is a statue that somebody makes and then treats like it has power, and God, through the prophet Jeremiah, says, "Look at what you're bowing to. It's like a scarecrow. It can't walk. It can't talk. Somebody has to carry it. It has no power." Then He says both halves. "It can't hurt you, and it can't help you either. It's not doing anything at all." That's the whole story with lucky socks. They aren't bad. They're just socks. They didn't help you win last time, and they can't make you lose this time. God is the one with power, not the socks. When you practice, when you prepare, when you put in many, many tries, and you learn, and you practice some more, that is what makes the difference. Hard work will always pay off. And here's the other half of it. Maybe you won't say out loud that you think you'll do well because saying it might jinx it. That's the same thing. Your words don't control the day. God does. Now there's a difference between confidence and overconfidence. The confident person says, "I know we're gonna do great today. I know we can win." And the overconfident person says, "I know we're gonna win. I know we can do it, which is why I didn't practice and I didn't prepare." See, there's a difference. The confident person knows that all their preparation, all their hard work has prepared them. The overconfident person doesn't put in any preparation or any hard work. They just believe they can do it. Now maybe for you it is socks. Maybe it's a lucky pencil for a test. Maybe it's tapping the doorframe or not stepping on cracks, or the way you have to line up your stuff before a game. Hey, this week, just try something a little different. Wear different socks to the thing on purpose, and then say this before you go, "God, you've got it today. My preparation, my hard work will pay off." See, you'll find out pretty fast that God is the one that's holding your day together, and that your hard work does pay off. Hey, let's go back to the one thing I wanted you to remember for the ride. Lucky socks have no power. Remember, no matter where you are or how you're listening, God loves you. And parents, I hope you have been enjoying Carpooling with Jesus. Do me a favor. If you can go over to Apple or Spotify, I'd love it if you could leave us a rating and a review. It really helps other families discover the podcast. Now, before you go, let's answer this question together. Is there something you do for luck? And who do you think is actually doing the hard work? I'll see you tomorrow on Carpooling with Jesus.
