1 John 5:18-21
Verse 21 Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.
Yesterday we talked about how important it was to set our will in line with God’s will and today we see how certain things in our lives can draw us out of His will easier than other things.
We all have things in our lives that dictate most every other thing. The thing that we compare new things to. It is this thing in our lives that has become more important to us than it should. When we know what this thing is in our life and don’t address it, we are actually showing it is our god.
These things in our lives are from a wide spectrum, everything from a fellow human being, to a favorite car, to a job, to a friend, or maybe even a favorite food. It is the one thing that we think about multiple times a day and even will rearrange our lives for. None of these things are bad in their normal context but when we give them the highest place in our lives they become a problem. The move into the God shape hole in our heart that should be for Him alone.
If we are wanting to live this year for the glory of God and be making choices that have eternal rewards, we need to make sure that it is God that we are serving and not our idol. Of course, we don’t like to consider it our idol but anything that can tempt us away from being fully devoted to God is just that.
The first commandment is one we all know by heart but also one that we don’t think about too often as we don’t think it is something we struggle with. The sad thing is that every one of us has struggled with it at some point and time. And likely more often than we want to admit. God doesn’t have any competition. He is all that is ever needed and all that is worth having. We have no reason to desire something more in life than we do the Great I AM. To rid our lives of idols means that we need to take intentional steps to address those things in our lives that try to draw us to themselves. We need to be aware of anything that starts pulling us to spend more time with it than we do with the Lord. And if we find ourselves focusing on it more than the Lord, we need to confess and take the needed actions to either cut these things from our lives or learn to put them in their proper space in our lives.
Making It Personal
What is the idol you struggle with? Are there things that you do that bring you in greater temptation from it? How willing are you to rid your life of that false god?
Making It Personal Kids
Do you have anything in your life that is more important to you than Jesus? Why is it wrong for you to have something you love more than Jesus? How can you make sure that Jesus is the most important thing in your life?
Closing Prayer
Father, we confess that we don’t always keep You as the Lord of our lives. We know this is a sin and we need to rid our lives of these idols. Please reveal the things in our lives that are vying for Your place. In Jesus’ name, amen.