The Squeeze on My Heart

When I say idols do you think of a statue of Budha with a really big belly? That’s immediately what pops into my head. You know, like the ones you see at a Chinese restaurants. They always make me giggle.

I’ve been reading through a lot of the Old Testament. Idols were a really big problem for the nation of Israel. They kept falling into the trap of becoming like the nations around them while they were in the wilderness. God warned them over and over, but the compromise kept sneaking into their daily lives.

One of the major themes of the nation of Israel that I’ve encountered is the fact that they really couldn’t seem to understand that God was really after their hearts. He repeatedly references how He loved them so, but their hearts kept going astray. He wanted their affection. He wants our affection. He deserves all of it.

I’ve been seeing it in my life, this same theme. So many of my thoughts and so much of my time are caught up in things that are important to the culture around me, but they aren’t things that will matter in eternity. Listen to what John says:

“Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods.

Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father.

Practically everything that goes on in the world –

wanting your own way,

wanting everything for yourself,

wanting to appear important –

has nothing to do with the Father.

It just isolates you from him.”  1 John 2:15&16

Wow!! I don't want my love for lesser things to squeeze out the love for the Father. I don't want it even cramped in there. I want the love of the Father to be the biggest thing in my heart. I don't want to let the traps of this world isolate me from Him.

This doesn’t mean that we can’t love the good things God created for our pleasure that are in the world, it means we don’t live for them. We aren’t completely occupied with what is happening here and miss our purpose here while we are caught up with cares of the world.

I’m going to be honest here and say that the more I really see what I am occupied with the more insurmountable this seems. That feels devastating. So many of my thoughts are caught up in things that just don’t matter.

I also know that God doesn’t reveal sin without a plan for redemption. It isn’t an overnight fix. But the good news is that He’s in this with me for the long-haul.

As I believe Him, He can help me both identify my idols and lay them down.

Are you like me? Have you noticed that your thoughts are so occupied with things that won’t matter in eternity, If we’re honest maybe not even next week.

I’d love to snap my fingers and change these patterns overnight, but I know how patterns work, they repeat.  My thought patterns are like well-worn paths. They can be ruts so deep and practiced that they are hard to drive out of. I’ve decided that I’m not going to let that stop me from changing. The ability to change is a gift of the believer. We are promised the same power that raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 8:11, and that, paired with my belief, will be effective to get me out of my ruts.

Father, hold my hand as one step at a time I shift my affections to where they belong. Open my eyes to see the things that are squeezing you out of my heart. I don't want to let anything sneak into my affections. Keep me awake to my thoughts and how they lead me. Give me perseverance for the Your every day work in my heart. Give me the power and desire to do what pleases You. I love you.

In Jesus name, Amen.