It seems to be my nature...to take something that I consider to be fundamentally important and somehow turn it into something sacred or worship worthy--not realizing that I have made that vital thing into an idol.
Then in one quick swoop I am made aware of the fact that I have been placing an unhealthy amount of reverence upon said important thing.
Then in one quick swoop I am made aware of the fact that I have been placing an unhealthy amount of reverence upon said important thing.
--"The greatest enemy of the life of faith in God is not sin, but good choices which are not quite good enough."--Oswald Chambers
That quote describes me to a tee. Allow me to share a personal example: I spent the first decade of my marriage exploring and implementing the 'what' and 'how' of being a godly wife. I read books, attended seminars, joined bible studies, carved out romantic get-a-ways and tried just about anything and everything imaginable in order to create marital serenity and security.
But somewhere along the way I had inadvertently constructed my own golden calf. Thinking the path of being a godly wife was to place my marriage upon a pedestal and actively bow in reverence to it.
All the things I had been doing to strengthen my marriage were (in and of themselves) good, vital things. One could even argue that they are necessary for any marriage to remain strong. Yet I was doing these things IN MY OWN STRENGTH. There was no trusting God involved when it came to striving to be a godly wife.
But somewhere along the way I had inadvertently constructed my own golden calf. Thinking the path of being a godly wife was to place my marriage upon a pedestal and actively bow in reverence to it.
All the things I had been doing to strengthen my marriage were (in and of themselves) good, vital things. One could even argue that they are necessary for any marriage to remain strong. Yet I was doing these things IN MY OWN STRENGTH. There was no trusting God involved when it came to striving to be a godly wife.
I trusted that my own efforts would somehow be enough to keep my marriage relationship secure...
they weren't.
I thought my "marriage god" would protect me from the outside world...I willingly placed my faith in it because I believed it alone had the power to keep me happy and safe. I adored it, worshiped it and considered it sacred!
In hindsight I can clearly see the truth of Matthew 6:24 . Now, I wouldn't go as far as to say that I hated the other God in my life (the one true God) but I was definitely pulling away from HIM.
That's the thing about having more than one god in our lives...when we pursue one, it always results in us pulling away from the other.
God always, in one way or another, reveals our idol worship to us. Often times He simply exposes the flaws in what we see as flawless...or the lack of value in that which we considered priceless...the imperfect in what we regarded to be idyllic.
When God revealed to me the sinful idol worship that was my marriage --it broke my heart too see that I had single handedly taken something good and vital (my desire for a healthy marriage) and twisted it into this despicable idol.
Our nature wants to mold the vital things into idols things: Money, relationships, love. Even something as vital as our quiet time with the Lord--while an important part of our christian walk...yet if we revere the ritual more than the relationship it puts us at risk.
God's word teaches that active worship always...ALWAYS involve sacrifice. Along with our worship, (whether it be to an ungodly idol or to the one and only true God) we must be willing to forgo, give up, surrender or forfeit something.
For example:
If we choose to worship money--something will be sacrificed...maybe our relationships or our time, maybe our integrity or our future security.
Personally, in choosing to worship my marriage--I sacrificed growing in my relationship with the Lord, as well as discovering who I was as a child of God...apart from being a wife. I sacrificed my own identity.
Even when we worship that, which is indeed worship worthy--our Heavenly Father, it will involve sacrifice. We may be called to place our desires, natures, fears, and hopes upon an alter in sacrifice to our Lord.
The good news is--when we sacrifice ourselves to our Creator, the payoff is always ten fold! Probably not in the way we expected, but always in a way that is for our own best. God doesn't bother blessing us with anything less than the very best.
And more good news, even when we botch it, by making an idol from something vital--just as soon as we confess it and repent or turn away from our sinful behaviors, God can reverse the damage we've done!
All those years of hard work, trying to create the perfect marriage, yet ending up making a huge mess of things...it seems like a big, fat waist of my time, right?
Well, I got to tell you--once I laid my desires for a trustworthy, safe, happy, comfortable and loving marriage on the alter of sacrifice to the God of this universe--HE performed the impossible!! Not only did He resurrect a completely hopeless, (absolutely no chance of ever coming back to life) dead marriage. He has blessed it beyond explanation and imagination, in such a way that only He could ever do...
And I know that if it wasn't for my years of wasted effort, followed by utter hopelessness regarding ever being able to salvage the marriage...
This June 29th, my husband and I will celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary!! PRAISE GOD!
http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh098.sht
they weren't.
Matthew 6:24 teaches that you can not serve two masters.
"You can't worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you'll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other." (MSG)
"You can't worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you'll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other." (MSG)
I thought my "marriage god" would protect me from the outside world...I willingly placed my faith in it because I believed it alone had the power to keep me happy and safe. I adored it, worshiped it and considered it sacred!
In hindsight I can clearly see the truth of Matthew 6:24 . Now, I wouldn't go as far as to say that I hated the other God in my life (the one true God) but I was definitely pulling away from HIM.
That's the thing about having more than one god in our lives...when we pursue one, it always results in us pulling away from the other.
Service to one equals neglect to the other.
God always, in one way or another, reveals our idol worship to us. Often times He simply exposes the flaws in what we see as flawless...or the lack of value in that which we considered priceless...the imperfect in what we regarded to be idyllic.
When God revealed to me the sinful idol worship that was my marriage --it broke my heart too see that I had single handedly taken something good and vital (my desire for a healthy marriage) and twisted it into this despicable idol.
Our nature wants to mold the vital things into idols things: Money, relationships, love. Even something as vital as our quiet time with the Lord--while an important part of our christian walk...yet if we revere the ritual more than the relationship it puts us at risk.
God's word teaches that active worship always...ALWAYS involve sacrifice. Along with our worship, (whether it be to an ungodly idol or to the one and only true God) we must be willing to forgo, give up, surrender or forfeit something.
For example:
If we choose to worship money--something will be sacrificed...maybe our relationships or our time, maybe our integrity or our future security.
Personally, in choosing to worship my marriage--I sacrificed growing in my relationship with the Lord, as well as discovering who I was as a child of God...apart from being a wife. I sacrificed my own identity.
Even when we worship that, which is indeed worship worthy--our Heavenly Father, it will involve sacrifice. We may be called to place our desires, natures, fears, and hopes upon an alter in sacrifice to our Lord.
The good news is--when we sacrifice ourselves to our Creator, the payoff is always ten fold! Probably not in the way we expected, but always in a way that is for our own best. God doesn't bother blessing us with anything less than the very best.
And more good news, even when we botch it, by making an idol from something vital--just as soon as we confess it and repent or turn away from our sinful behaviors, God can reverse the damage we've done!
All those years of hard work, trying to create the perfect marriage, yet ending up making a huge mess of things...it seems like a big, fat waist of my time, right?
Well, I got to tell you--once I laid my desires for a trustworthy, safe, happy, comfortable and loving marriage on the alter of sacrifice to the God of this universe--HE performed the impossible!! Not only did He resurrect a completely hopeless, (absolutely no chance of ever coming back to life) dead marriage. He has blessed it beyond explanation and imagination, in such a way that only He could ever do...
And I know that if it wasn't for my years of wasted effort, followed by utter hopelessness regarding ever being able to salvage the marriage...
if I hadn't experienced the misery--I wouldn't appreciate the miracle.
This June 29th, my husband and I will celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary!! PRAISE GOD!
"To God be the glory, great things He hath done!"
http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh098.sht
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