My Yahoo home page asks me every day to select which category of stories I prefer to read: celebrity, sports, entertainment, lifestyle, or politics. Although I don't have the option to select "None of the above," just imagining that I might have that option brings a smile to my face. Our culture is obsessed with honoring, attending to, and maybe even idolizing people who have achieved some level of fame or notoriety. Part of that obsession, if we are honest, is our own desire to have that same fame and fortune and therefore also to "make a name for ourselves."
In Genesis 11 we find people building a very tall tower. They want their tower to "reach to the heavens” in spite of the fact that there is no practical reason for building it. They are building the tower just to make themselves well-known and admired, wanting the people in surrounding towns to look up to them and celebrate them. They long to be famous.
God has other plans. God knows that humans really only function well when they are doing and being what they were designed to do and to be. God knows that the best thing all people can do is to place Him first in their lives, seeking to honor and worship Him in all situations and at all times. Sadly, seeking to make a name for yourself has the added consequence of removing God from the throne of your heart and replacing Him with—you. We try to create situations where we are in charge, we are ruling, and we are deciding and choosing the best paths instead of humbly submitting to God's Sovereign rule in our lives. In "making a name for ourselves," we dishonor the name of God and the way He chooses to move and work in our lives.
I want to worship God today rather than trying to make a name for myself. You can also prayerfully ask God to guide you in doing the same.