“I am the LORD your God…You shall have no other gods before me…for I the LORD your God am a jealous God…but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.” Exodus 20:1, 6.
I don’t know why it happened…not sure how it happened…can’t pinpoint when it happened. All I know is that I have lived the majority of my life in search of the approval and acceptance of others. Whether it was anchored in insecurity or some other weakness I didn’t understand that was the motivation of all my actions. My idol continued to produce rotten fruit in this pursuit of approval for many years. When we have a deep idol that elevates our hearts above God we will bear rotten fruit although it might look delicious for the moment. Because I wouldn’t deal with my heartsickness of sin, God did. My past idols created a set of circumstances that culminated in things happening in my life that were out of control. I wanted THINGS to change but God wanted ME to change! So, He began a heart campaign that was like no other. Little did I know the journey would be life changing like open heart surgery.
My Bible Study this morning described our hearts as disordered. ‘We struggle with sin because we have disordered hearts. We have made the lesser things the main things. We have put something we love before the God we should love supremely. Our love priorities are out of whack. When our loves are out of order, the Bible calls it idolatry.’ Redeemed, Angela Thomas-Pharr, p. 135. She goes on to describe two types of idols in our lives, deep and surface idols. One is usually the fruit of the other. My deep idol was the desire for approval, acceptance, and control. My surface idols were my children, grandchildren and overspending. I think the deep idols are the altars we erect and the surface idols are those things that we worship at the altar. A.R. Bernard defines idolatry as seeking security and meaning in someone or something other than God. It is so easy for me to put my children as the main things over God who should be the supreme thing. I am tempted to satisfy my longings with things instead of His comfort. Since the heart campaign, I am thankful that most times, though not all times, I recognize when something is beginning to take on idol worshipping. I immediately ask the Holy Spirit to settle my heart and reorder my loves. We cannot reorder the loves we do not acknowledge. God is patient but God wants more…He wants your complete love and heart and He will stop at nothing until He has it. There is a date on the calendar for everyone…a date when Love will call your name…a date when your life will be redeemed…a date when your idol will be removed and God will be at the center.
We might have eternal life but God wants more than that. He wants the full abundance for your life in the here and now.
No comments:
Post a Comment