Guilty of idolatry?

For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. Do not be idolaters. . . . (or) indulge in sexual immorality. . . . (or) put Christ to the test. . . . nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed. . . . Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. (1 Corinthians 10:1–15)

Even as I try to purge our home of unneeded items, it is not easy. However, yesterday our son said that after we are gone, it will take him two days to empty the house. At first I was shocked to think my stuff might wind up in the dump, but this remark is helping me. I can give things to family, friends and needy people before I go to be with Jesus. But I cannot take them with me.
That thought actually helps with the purging, but it also makes me wonder if some of my beloved stuff could be called idols. While I do not worship them as gods, they are far more important to me than to easily give them away.

God's OT people were guilty of making their desires and activities more important than obeying God. Idolatry as God sees it is not merely putting a statue on a shelf. It can also be a deep unwillingness to let go of anything, and to make them treasures instead of gifts from God that He entrusts to my stewardship.

Lord, as I get older, that stewardship needs to be honored and I must gladly yield those gifts to You . You may lend them to someone else as You decide. Most of them may not last long and none of them will enter eternity. Emotionally, this is a challenge, but give me total victory over the temptation to make stuff more important than it is.

Stubborn Human Hearts

“They have blown the trumpet and made everything ready, but none goes to battle, for my wrath is upon all their multitude. The sword is without; pestilence and famine are within. He who is in the field dies by the sword, and him who is in the city famine and pestilence devour. And if any survivors escape, they will be on the mountains, like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, each one over his iniquity. All hands are feeble, and all knees turn to water. They put on sackcloth, and horror covers them. Shame is on all faces, and baldness on all their heads. They cast their silver into the streets, and their gold is like an unclean thing. Their silver and gold are not able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord. They cannot satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs with it. For it was the stumbling block of their iniquity. His beautiful ornament they used for pride, and they made their abominable images and their detestable things of it. Therefore I make it an unclean thing to them. And I will give it into the hands of foreigners for prey, and to the wicked of the earth for spoil, and they shall profane it. I will turn my face from them, and they shall profane my treasured place. Robbers shall enter and profane it.” (Ezekiel 7:14–22)

God planned severe treatment for His people who had turned from Him to worship idols made of metal. Besides physical hunger and famine, and other horrors, their precious jewels of silver and gold became mere plunder in the minds of their invaders.

I’ve no idols in my home; certainly not enough precious metal that anyone would consider stealing, but how would I feel if the things I value (like photos, gifts from my children, etc.) were considered mere junk by others? Would this make me rethink my priorities? Would it mean a deeper dependance on the One who governs my life and whatever I possess? 

In the past couple of weeks, two small paring knives have disappeared from our home. However, this week my hubby found a valued item that he thought may be lost forever. And just now we got a call that something I made is being returned to me. Another unexpected surprise from God. 

These insignificant events make me wonder at the hardness of heart of God's OT people to the point that He had to send them into exile, famine, danger, and loss to wake them up to their idolatry. Their wealth would not feed them, or save them, or bring them home. They cast their silver and gold into the streets as unclean and not able to deliver them from God's wrath. 

Jesus, I am aware that wealth and art could minister to a person’s pride and ego. However, they can become a pollution, or even taken by others who do not really appreciate them. Guard my heart against the worship of possessions. Do not allow anything rob me of my love and worship for You.

 

Worshiping bigger, better, more . . .

Due to a miscommunication, my carry-on case with laptop and a half-dozen books wound up staying in the back seat of a taxi instead of being unloaded with the rest of our luggage. My reaction surprised me. I was more concerned about the miscommunication than I was about losing my case with its pricey contents. Thankfully, due to my husband’s efforts, it was returned intact.

The next day we watched a television show in which a house burned down. I wondered how I would respond if that happened to us and we lost everything we have, permanently. Would I be so calm?

Today’s devotion warns against the idolatry of things. It directs me to a passage in Luke where a man appealed to Jesus on the grounds of what he thought would be fair play. But Jesus must have surprised him. He ignored his plea and pointed to a deeper and more selfish motivation . . .

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” (Luke 12:13–15)

Most of us are impressed with things, more, bigger, better. On our holiday, we visited the Biltmore, the largest private residence in the continent and very impressive. We also notice things like a neighbor’s new car or an amazing collection of shoes, or memorabilia, or art. It seems normal for us to be attached to our stuff, to protect it and guard it. However, Jesus tells a parable about this, warning me that loving my stuff can also be idolatry . . .  

The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” ’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. (Luke 12:16–21)

When I was much younger, I wanted a big house with large rooms. After moving twenty-nine times and living in a variety of homes, I’ve learned that a big or small house has nothing to do with satisfaction. As the writer of Ecclesiastes says, “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes? . . . As he came from his mother’s womb he shall go again . . . and what gain is there to him who toils for the wind?” (Ecclesiastes 5:5 –16)

Some have decided the only way to avoid the idolatry of things is to be rid of it all and live in poverty, but that is an external solution. Even a poor man can idolize things. Instead, God often blesses His people with things to enjoy, making the true gift of God something else entirely.

I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man. (Ecclesiastes 3:12–13)

I can enjoy what God has given me, but Jesus tells me not to be anxious about my stuff. Life is more than food, even though I need food, and my body is more than what hangs in my closet, even though I need clothes. The reality is that all the good things I have come from the hand of God. I can enjoy it all, but not let any of it possess me, for “life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.”

By anxiety, I cannot add a single hour to my life. What I have or do not have is the prerogative of God, and because He “clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven” I can trust Him to take care of me. Far better than trusting things is the ability to trust God. He is able to take care of that department of life as well as everything else.

As Jesus said, my heavenly Father knows what I need. It is up to me to, “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” and let Him add (or subtract) whatever will be in my best interest and for His glory. (Matthew 6:25–34) Certainly, bowing to the idol of things only takes my focus off God who is the source of all things, and makes no sense at all.