"Whatever a man seeks, honors, or exalts more than God, this is the god of idolatry." ~William Ullathorne
We often think of idolatry as people bowing to a statue. Or worshiping the Sun, moon, or stars. But idols come in all shapes and sizes - and often are things very familiar to us. Like being wealthy, our dreams, a relationship, a mentor, or our children.
How can we check our hearts and see if we have any idols? One way is to look at your bank account records. Matthew 6:21 says "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Where are you investing your money? Towards that dream purchase? Toward a vacation trip? Towards charity and the church? Now, I don't mean that saving for a boat or a vacation is bad in and of itself. But is it consuming all your time, energy and resources in the pursuit of it? Are you seeking the Lord's direction in those things or are you pressing towards it in an attempt to just make it happen?
Another way to check our hearts is to put our blessings and desires to the test. Abraham was asked to sacrifice his only son, his promised son that he waited over 25 years for. The son who was to be the hope for his family line and the heir of the promises of God. Abraham showed no hesitation and immediate obedience to God asking for him to give up his blessing, to risk his future, to return the gift he'd been given. Are we willing to do the same? Is there anything in your life that if God asked you to give it back, you would hesitate? Your job? Your home? Your health? Your child?
When I checked my heart by asking this question - I was stopped short. For I found that my hesitation was in the plans I had for my family. What I wanted it to look like and how I was going to get us there. I justified this action because the things I desire are good, valuable, and even necessary - at least in my perspective. But was I making those things gods?? Was I pursuing them more than the Lord?? Was I pursuing them outside of God's will and way of doing things? And my heart convicted me that I was. I was not only focusing and pursuing them more than God, I was unintentionally declaring myself as God over those things.
Lord have mercy! But what should I do!? What could I do? Repent, first of all. God promises in 1 John that He is a just judge and faithful to forgive those who confess their sins. Not only forgive, but cleanse from all unrighteousness. What hope! What Grace! The second thing I could do was submit to Him the wrong paths taken, let Him navigate the best route back to a right course, and then humbly follow. This is the tough part. Leaving the paths we thought were so good and beautiful. Can we be sure Gods way is really worth it? Let's take a look at Proverbs 14:12 "There is a way that seems right to a man, but it's end is the way of death." Just a few verses down in verse 16 it says "A wise man fears and departs from evil, but a fool rages and is self confident." I've found this to be the bar that I hold myself up to when I am questioning my own motives and wanting to be following the Lord. Am I humble? Am I seeking the Lord and what I know to be true about His will? Am I being self-confident about this? Am I pushing through or trusting the Lord to be the discern-er and the decision maker here? Am I raging in getting it done or trusting the Lord to be the strength and power through which all good things come? Another Scripture that comes to mind is Matthew 6:10. "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven." Am I seeking to establish the Lords kingdom here or my own? Later on in that same chapter in verse 24 it says "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." That word money can also be translated wealth. Am I pursuing the wealth of the earth or the riches that are stored away in Heaven?
After repentance and evaluating the reasons for my idolatry - I could refocus. Place my gaze once again on my Lord and Master and seek after His kingdom. To do that, I needed to know what His desires and purposes are. Then I could also ask for Him to work in my heart and make them my desires and purposes. I first sought the Lord in prayer. For Him to open my eyes and my heart to knowing Him and His desires. And what amazement and joy and grace I found in that pursuit! Sometimes God's word seems so restrictive and it can be uncomfortable and even fearful to surrender all control and authority over ourselves to another. But when you stop and consider the one to whom we are surrendering to - there is no reason to fear. For He has a kind character, a compassionate Father, and powerful Protector, and a good Shepherd. His children shall not be in want of any good thing.
Then after acknowledging the goodness and authority of God, I reorganized the order in which I went about things. I sought the Lord's system of authority with Christ as the head over all believers, then my husband as head over me, and him and I jointly having authority over our kids. Then I could stop and back up and remember to seek the Lord in my plans and desires for our family and see if I was keeping the same priorities for my family as God does. Then I needed to take my desires to my husband and work together with him on setting out our way for our family and not just my way. Things go much slower now and work out to look differently than I had in mind at first, but it's more peaceful and unified. It's less tiring for me as I do not have to push things through so hard! And best of all - it is more of a pattern that I would like for my kids to follow after me in. It's not perfect and it's not without mistakes. But I'm grateful that God convicted me of this now and that I was able to take the opportunity to make the necessary changes before I got to much farther down a wrong path and had so much more to undo and apologize for!
I hope this is helpful and encouraging to you. If you find that you have something you are inadvertently worshiping I hope that you will not feel alone in that or horrified with yourself. We are sinners in so much need of a Savior! Thank the Lord that He offers to help us and forgive us! Leave me a comment if this was helpful to you or if you have any questions about how to seek forgiveness from the Lord. The Bible says He extends forgiveness to anyone who asks and will give wisdom liberally and without reproach. He's not out to punish you - He's out to pursue you with His love and grace!
