These were some questions that God probed me with recently. My initial thought was, “Idols? Me? But, I don’t bow to any images or worship anything else but You, Father. How could I possibly have any other gods in my life? How could I love anything or anyone more than You, Lord?”
Well, God obviously knew the answers to all those questions, even more than I knew them myself! And, for the past several months He has been convicting me in this very important area.
I am amazed at how the Lord has used almost everything from verses during my morning devotions, to various speakers over the past several months, to video clips that hone in on the command of getting rid of the “gods” in my life as well as removing the things that keep me from serving and loving Him with my whole heart.
After all, the first commandment is to love Him with our entire self, and the first of the Ten Commandments instructs us to have no other god except the Lord. So, I should not be surprised at how often I encounter this subject. It is vital!
Now, I really don’t have a literal idol or statue or god that I worship. Yet, an idol or god doesn’t necessarily have to be a statue or something visual. It could even begin as something perfectly good, but when I esteem that good thing above God it can become dangerous. By simply putting something or someone else first in my life—before the Lord—I can be guilty of idolatry, or serving other gods.
There is no way we can put someone or something else first in our life and truly serve and love God with all our heart. It’s not possible! Matthew 6:24 reminds us that we cannot serve two masters. We either serve the Most High God, or we don’t. There is no middle ground. God even brought the Israelites out of Egypt, out of bondage and away from the other foreign gods, so they could serve Him with all their hearts without those competing affections.
1 Samuel 12:24 says “Only fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you.” God truly HAS done great things for you and me! He has created us, redeemed us, loved us, called us His own, and done even more than we could ever imagine. How could we not worship Him?
When I get my thoughts back on God and truly consider what He has done and Who He is, I am convicted and in awe of Him. All other gods and idols diminish and are nothing compared to my magnificent Lord and Savior!
Below is a chorus to one of my favorite songs. God has been bringing this to my mind a lot lately as He is teaching me how to truly love and serve Him with all my heart.
“With all my heart I want to love You Lord,
And live my life, each day to know You more!
All that is in me is Yours completely.
I’ll serve You only, with all my heart!”
I pray that God would help the lyrics to this song become more than just my desire, more than just my goal, more than my prayer. I pray that it become real to me and define my life. I pray that I would really and truly learn to love and serve God with all my heart.
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