“What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” (Mark 8: 36 NIV)
REFLECTION
I was recently reminded of how dangerous idolatry is, as I pondered these words by the late, great Timothy Keller:
“What is an idol? It is anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give.”
“An idol has such a controlling position in your heart that you can spend most of your passion and energy, your emotional and financial resources, on it without a second thought. It can be family and children, or career and making money, or achievement and critical acclaim, or saving “face” and social standing. It can be a romantic relationship, peer approval, competence and skill, secure and comfortable circumstances, your beauty or your brains, a great political or social cause, your morality and virtue, or even success in the Christian ministry…. An idol is whatever you look at and say, in your heart of hearts, “If I have that, then I’ll feel my life has meaning, then I’ll know I have value, then I’ll feel significant and secure.“
To learn more from this seasoned saint, visit: https://timothykeller.com/author
The Bible says: “…if we freely admit our sins when his light uncovers them, he will be faithful to forgive us every time. God is just to forgive us our sins because of Christ, and he will continue to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (see 1 John 1:9 TPT)
So, let’s ask the Holy Spirit to search us and grant us grace to courageously confront idolatry and confess anything that we desire more than God, and to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (see Matthew 6:33), knowing that what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (see 2 Corinthians 4:18).
PRAYER POEM: Turn
LORD, search and show me anything hindering our intimacy, and as I turn in trust, enlighten me to wisely deal with whatever You reveal.
