Idolatry. I am guilty. In fact idolatry is probably one of the commandments that I break the most often. As promised, I've got much more for you guys about the path that God lead me down last night. God made it very clear to me that for the month of October, He would be stripping me of the things that I have made as idols in my life. So far, there are three things on that list. Just because October began today does not mean that I won't be adding things to the list as it goes on.. but for now, there are three things I will be fasting from this month. Facebook, sugar, and sleeping in on weekdays. Well, let's jump in!
"Idolatry (noun): the religious worship of idols". Okay.. let's be honest here. No, I do not bow before facebook, cookies, candy bars, or my bed and worship them as gods. But, when people think of the term "idolatry", that is the definition that comes to mind. But, there is a whole other side of idolatry, a side that I think you will find, you are a little TOO familiar with. "Idolatry (noun): excessive or blind adoration, reverence, devotion, etc." ...Okay, sounding more familiar? Ever find yourself obsessing over that TV show or sports team a little too excessively? Or ever find yourself relying on that morning cup(s) of coffee just a little too much? That is exactly how I've found myself beginning my month long fast. Devotion and blind adoration are definitely words that I can use to describe how I am with facebook. In fact, deactivating my facebook and staying away from it for a whole month is going to be a real struggle for me.. and that's exactly why I need to do it.
First of all, let's take a look at the rules God gives us as far as idolatry goes. It's something that comes straight from the Ten Commandments. The very first two commandments, in fact. "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me. (commandment #1) You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. (commandment #2) For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God" (Ex 20:2-5). There it is, plain and simple. I am 100% guilty. 'You shall have no other gods before Me'. I may not consider Facebook to be a god, but I certainly tend to put it before God. When the choice arises to go look at Facebook, or go look at my Bible.. yep, I've been choosing Facebook. That is clue number one that I need to change things. Now, I also have not carved any statues or anything like that, but let's be honest.. things were a bit different back then. God commands us to 'not bow down to them nor serve them'. Like I said earlier, I'm not kneeling in front of my computer and worshiping Facebook.. but do I serve it? Absolutely. I can barely go an hour without having to check my Facebook, see what every one is doing, check my email for Facebook notifications. The same can be said about sweets and sleeping in, I definitely serve both of those things. They have dominion over me.. I cannot control my craving for sweets nor my desire to sleep in. Thus, I am serving them. They are a god over me. That is unhealthy, and that is clue number two that things really need to change.
Worthless. That's what these idols are. God is very clear about that in the Bible. "All who make idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless." (Isaiah 44:9). Blunt, but so true. When my life is over, what's going to matter? The hours I spent on facebook, the hours I slept in, and the sweets that I ate? Or the time that I spent in prayer, studying my Bible, or just spending time with God? The answer to that is crystal clear. What would become of me if I kept choosing my idols over God? "They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their fathers and the warnings he had given them. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless." (2 Kings 17:15) Worthless. That is what I will become. What meaning is there to life if I spend it sleeping and staring at my computer screen? NOTHING. nada. zip. zero. There is so much more to this life that God intended for me! I have the privilege to be a part of this AMAZING story that God has created, and yet I choose to sit around, sleep, and stare at my computer? "[There's a] six-lane-wide-freeway-sized God story that you and I are running down the middle of every day. It's a place that requires a constant choice. We can choose to cling to starring roles in the little-bitty stories of us, or we can exchange our fleeting moment in the spotlight for a supporting role in the eternally beautiful epic that is the Story of God. Think of it as trading up. Abandoning the former and embracing the latter will allow our little lives to be filled with the wonder of God as we live for His fame and the unending applause of His name. And joining our small stories to His will give us what we all want most in life anyway: the assurance that our brief moments on earth count for something in a story that never ends." -Louie Giglio (i am not but i know I AM). Nothing else needs to be said. That awesome quote speaks for itself.
So then it hit me as I read these two verses. "Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless." (1 Sam 12:21) and "Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood, who pray to gods that cannot save". (Isaiah 45:20) Here comes that pit in my stomach. Why am I serving Facebook and sweets and sleep and letting them have dominion over me? Because I am using them to fill a hole and a craving that should be filled by GOD. I can look at Facebook all I want, I can sleep all I want, and I can eat all the sugar I want.. but it will never last. I will only come up thirsty, craving more and more and more and my obsession with those things will only grow. Because they are merely temporary satisfactions. In the end, they will leave me empty and wanting more. But with GOD I can quench the otherwise unquenchable thirst! It is only through HIM that I will ever be satisfied! It makes me think back to a sermon Pastor Ben gave, about how each of us have a God-shaped hole in our heart. we try to fill it with all sorts of things.. in my case, facebook, sweets, extra sleep, and plenty of other things. but there is nothing.. NOTHING.. that will fill that gap, other than God.
So, now begins a month of some serious learning I am going to be doing. What I want, more than anything, is for the only desire of my heart to be God. And for that to happen, I have to remove all of those things that I have an unhealthy desire for. I have to learn that those things can, and must, be replaced by the desire for God, or I will drink and only ever come up dry. So I'm starting over. I'm going to read Mark Cahill's book One Heartbeat Away, and I think I'm going to read Louie Giglio's i am not but i know I AM again. accompanied by both morning and evening time in devotion with God.. just speaking to Him, listening to Him, and just spending time with Him. I'm going to chronicle my journey here. I hope you all will enjoy it and will learn along with me the things that I am going to be learning.
"Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:13-14)
Jesus, I'm ready. I'm ready to replace my earthly desires with the desire for YOU and You alone. I want to thirst for You more and more every minute of every day. I want to fill that hole with You, I want to be embraced in Your arms, I want to want You and everything about You, Lord!! Amen.
xoxo, Annie
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