Find Out What Pleases Him

Last week I was looking at things that rouse God’s wrath, things written about the Israelites in the desert, written to be an example and warning to us so that we don’t miss out on God’s best for us (I Cor.10). Moses thought it crucial for the people to remember the stubborn bent of their hearts.  He reminded them of five concrete events where they’d provoked their God to wrath, instances of: idolatry, complaining, testing God, lusting after things He hadn’t provided, and unbelief. (Deut.9) That’s how far I got last week.  Looking at them.

It’s one thing looking at them, so long ago, so foolish, so stupid.  I can get the impression that I would never react like that.  Who complains when they’re getting the ‘bread of heaven’ delivered to their doorstep daily? Who would be silly enough to cast an idol in the shape of a calf and worship it?  Granted, God is invisible and we’d like to be able to see Him and assure ourselves that He is in fact leading us but… I can go glibly through these examples and disparage the Israelites for their unbelief and stubborn hearts and miss the fact that these are written down for ME!

However, my week didn’t end with theoretical ponderings.  Without warning I found myself in Israelite sandals.  I live in a land of plenty. My freezer’s full of the fruit of the land.  The ‘bread of heaven’ is delivered to my doorstep, in the form of plums and apples and tomatoes and …well, you get the idea.  I have plenty.   But, my ‘neighbors’ have more. 

I am prone to measure my godliness with inaccurate scales, by the sins that don’t readily draw me.  For instance, I can read in Colossians these instructions while doing a mental check-off of ones that don’t apply to me:  “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality (check), impurity, (check), passion (check), evil desire (check?) and covetousness, WHICH IS IDOLATRY.”(gulp)  What exactly would you call it when I stand in my neighbor’s yard surveying all their fruit and nut trees and wishing they were mine?!  Guilty as charged!

How is idolatry somehow less bad than sexual immorality?  Only in my mind.  When I measure my spiritual stature based on sins that don’t hold great temptation for me, I am only deceiving myself.  I could well write a more personal list of ‘Things that make God angry’… It might begin this way…

--When I  want my neighbor’s good fortune for myself, or at least his apples!

Or if I’m to go for the jugular, what about:

--When I despise my neighbor—considering him more foolish than I, using his blind spots to bolster my pride in ‘knowing better’.

Yes, I’ve had to do some repenting this week.  These are things God hates.  They don’t reflect my calling as his dearly loved child: “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Eph.5:1,2

Instead I envy.  I judge.  I criticize.  I condemn.  I exult in pride: “you’ll see”; I ‘know better’; “Poor you”;  “Fool.”  Mind you, I don’t say these things.  But sins of the heart are no less sins.  God hates them.  (And thankfully He prompts me to see them and to hate them too.)

And yet this is only half of the story. God’s wrath is aroused because He loves us. These things he hates destroy His glorious designs for our lives. They are destructive. They mar the holiness we are made to reflect.  We are by nature  children of wrath but He has called us to be His children and to learn His ways and to share in His holiness (Heb.12:10)

And this is the delightful part of the story. “For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” I Th.5:9

We have a good idea what incites God’s wrath, but do we realize
what delights Him?

I’ve spent a lot of time in the Old Testament over the last several months, comparing it to what I’m reading in the New.  You cannot read Leviticus and not be struck with all the bloody sacrifices that had to be made to cover the people’s sins.  God makes it perfectly clear that He is holy and the people He has chosen to be his own are not. Their hearts are endlessly straying to other gods and requiring the slaughter of animals to atone for them.  Sacrifice is endless… You could get the impression that God loves the slaughter of animals, the blood of bulls and goats.  But this is not so.  He’s only laying out a plan.

Then the ‘fullness of time’ comes, and with the New Testament God’s plan unfolds.  He’s made a way for ‘children of wrath’ to be His friends.  He wants them near Him. 

That plan is Jesus—the very Son of God ‘with whom He is
well-pleased’.

What delights God?  Not animal sacrifice, but His Son. 
God Himself provided the propitiation for man’s sin in the perfect Lamb, Jesus.  The blood of bulls and goats only pre-figures this.  Propitiation, ‘the turning away of wrath by an offering’ is exactly what we needed! Jesus was sent into the world to be that offering, the perfect Lamb ‘who takes away the sin of the world’.

“…whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.” (Rom.3:25)

Which brings us to another thing God delights in—faith in His Son. I am not stuck in my sins.  I am not destined either to live in remorse, kicking myself for not being more holy, or in constant struggle to do better.  I am offered by faith the very righteousness of Christ to my account, if I will receive it.  Will I put aside my determination to do better, be better, be good, prove myself worthy (and such rot!) and simply  cast my case on Jesus?  His death and resurrection has covered  my sin once and for all.  My covetousness, my envy, my pride, they are real. I remember them, lest I begin to  think myself beyond need of Jesus’ blood.  But overlaid on the memory of my sins is another remembering.

“But when Christ had offered for all time a a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God…For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” (Heb.10:12-14) 

Jesus invites me to remember Him:  “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” (Lk.22:19)  Jesus died to cover my sin.  This is enough.  That bread from heaven the Israelites ate, that was a picture of Jesus.  No wonder their despising it was an affront to God.  Jesus is the bread of life; those who eat will live.  Those who demand something more, something else, something other, may get it, but with it death.  There is life only in Jesus.

And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. Jn.17:3

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Acts 4:12

There are plenty of things that bring God delight I suppose but they all come back in one way or another to Jesus (“God Saves”). God is pleased with His Son--the perfect spotless obedient Lamb who fulfilled the Father’s purpose and will be the culmination of everything. Eph.1:9,10

Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, "Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me…And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Heb.10:5,10

This is why faith pleases God when it is placed in His Son. “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” Matt.17:5 
We cannot assume God is pleased with us apart from it. “And without faith it is impossible to please God…” Heb.11:6  Any vestige of confidence that I have something to offer God in and of myself is folly.  It is only when my faith rests in His Son as my only claim to righteousness that God  looks at me with pleasure.

This is a little hard for me to swallow.  I am by birth a ‘pleaser’.  Even as a Kindergartener I was known for my quiet compliant demeanor.  This is not a virtue; I just wanted people to like me.   But God is not fooled.   He does not look and say ‘Oh, what a sweet girl’.  No matter what moral codes of conduct, rules or formulas we’ve found to live by they are not sufficient to gain favor with God.  Only faith in Christ makes us pleasing to God.  No sacrifice, effort, or moral lifestyle can take its place.  God is looking for humble hearts that will acknowledge their shortfall and take Him at His Word:
--All have sinned and fall short of my Glory.
--Sin’s wages are death.
--Believe on Jesus as your Lord and Saviour and you will live.

If you're good enough without Him, Jesus did not come for you.

It’s simple. But it’s humbling.  And it leaves no room for self-justification or self-anything!  The children of Israel in the desert failed in this respect; they had hard unbelieving hearts.  They were stubborn, resisting God’s voice, choosing their own desires over His.  Consequently a whole generation died in the desert, never reaching the good land God had intended for them.

For forty years I loathed that generation and said, "They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways.” Ps.95:10

Even as believers, God is not so much pleased with our efforts and determinations to be good as He is with our faith in His Son. It is only through the Spirit of Christ within us that we can do anything truly good in God’s sight.  “Without Me you can do nothing”.   Again it is humble faith that pleases God and by which we are transformed to resemble Jesus in our thoughts, words and deeds.  We can’t do this life in Christ apart from Christ! 

"If we are going to grow in the realization of who we are in Christ, we must come to terms with the reality that we are not yet perfect; the presence and activity of sin is still alive and well within us. The reason we must accept this fact is that we cannot look to Christ for our identity if we are still trying to find something about ourselves to prop up our self-esteem. To really grow in the wonderful reality of who we are in Christ, we must abandon any desire to find something within ourselves that makes us acceptable to God." –Jerry Bridges

Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?  Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Gal.3:2,3

But here’s the remarkable thing.  These bodies, in which the Spirit of God comes to reside can then become living offerings to God—good and pleasing sacrifices.  Bodies that were once instruments of sin, in thought, word and deed become houses of worship.  Our lives become living sacrifices in honor of the One who designed them for His glory.

Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship. Rom.12:1 HCSB

As I yield my heart to learn God’s ways, to say  YES! to Him and NO! to ways the world calls life, I am transformed into a living sacrifice with an aroma that’s pleasing to God.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Rom.12:2)

Pleasing aroma—the Old Testament is replete with this expression.  Every sacrifice, every bit of incense, every burnt offering gave off an aroma pleasing to God.  Jesus is the fulfillment of these offerings.  Jesus’ death on my behalf was a pleasing sacrifice.  Now I am brought near to God, reconciled to Him at great cost.  And because He lives in me by His Spirit my life now is said to have a pleasing aroma to God!

For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing,  to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? II Cor.2:15,16

It’s incredible really, but this body of mine that houses the part of me that is bent toward sin, also is God’s instrument for righteousness.  And because I am IN CHRIST He looks and is pleased.  I still fail.  I still fall. I still envy my neighbor and harbor ill will at times.  But Jesus doesn’t.  And by faith in Him I can get up, admit where I’ve fallen and know that Jesus blood was shed for this and God is pleased.  I will never outgrow this dependence on his mercy, this need for his grace and his forgiveness.  I was never meant to.

--LS

For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice,  do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness Ps.95:7-8

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant,  equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Heb.13:20-21

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Ps.51:17

But I am afflicted and in pain; let your salvation, O God, set me on high!  I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving. This will please the LORD more than an ox or a bull with horns and hoofs. Ps.69:29-31

But the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love. Ps.147:11

May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the LORD. Ps.104:34

High Hopes

I find myself some days lately feeling unaccountably glum. The sun may be shining, the birds calling in search of mates, buds blooming and everything running otherwise smoothly in my little world, but there's this underlying glumness… How come?

As Rachel counts down the days till she can fly this nest for greater things, I take stock of my purpose in life! I wonder what cause there will be to get out of bed when homeschooling no longer calls us to be up and at it… What is the purpose of life without kids? That question too crosses my mind and I voice it to Jim, my voice quavering…

We're doing a study these days on applying the Gospel to life. This week's lesson is on idolatry. There are statements here to shake me out of just picturing gold-covered Hindu gods, into considering whether I have set my heart on idols—anything besides Jesus that I feel I must have in order to be happy, whether a thing or a person, a role or an ability. Where have I set my hopes?

Could this glum sagging of joy mean that I've been counting on something other than Jesus for my joy? Have I let my calling become my God?

Take this statement for instance:

"Every self exists in relation to values perceived as making life worth living. A value is anything good in the created order—any idea, relation, object or person in which one has an interest, from which one derives significance…These values compete…in time one is prone to choose a center of value by which other values are judged. When a finite value has been elevated to centrality and imagined as a final source of meaning, then one has chosen…a god…One has a god when a finite value is…viewed as that without which one cannot receive life joyfully." Thomas Oden, Two Worlds: Notes on the Death of Modernity in America and Russia, IVP,1992, 94-96

Over all these years I've found significance and life purpose in my calling as a mother schooling her own children at home. I've found great satisfaction in it despite the overwhelming challenge at times. That's all about to change. The sense of loss leaves me feeling glum some days. The unknown prospects looming seem alternately intimidating and exciting. Today, I'm excited. New ideas are brewing…new hopes.

But that's just it, my point. Hopes. What are my hopes? Must I really just scramble for another temporary job description in order to restore my joy? Or is this my opportunity to make sure my hope is ultimately set in God and whatever His calling and purposes are for my life at any given stage. If I'm counting on anything else, there is reason to feel deflated!

What do I want, besides 'just' God? And how badly do I want it? Health, 'successful' children, a comfortable income, freedom from pain, longevity, eternal youth?! Are these my expectations? If my hope is set on any of these, as needful for joy, it's misplaced.

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick," Solomon said. False hopes, like false gods, will never satisfy. They're all temporary. They will always leave us heart-sick. Change comes and knocks them out from under us. Then what? Only God is a rock unchanging. David points us in the right direction as he confronts his own glumness:

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God. Ps.42:11

As believers we are people destined in this lifetime to live on hope, to set our minds on things above, not the stuff of here and now (Col.3:2). Our salvation itself is vested in a future hope, not yet seen. We don't have it all now. We aren't intended to. I've been memorizing Romans 8 little by little with Rachel and we've come to the verses on hope—strong reminders that the best is yet to come—the glory, the Kingdom, the redemption of our bodies—these are all future tense. Meanwhile creation groans, we groan, and even the Spirit groans on our behalf. And we wait, eagerly, and patiently, sustained by the inseparable love of God.

And in this waiting we seek the interests of the Kingdom first and we seek God's heart, in hopes that He will make His desires our own and conform our desires to His. And this mother's heart imagines what it would be to have the grandkids near enough to pop by Grandmom's house and feed the chickens, pet the dog, have a cookie from that never-empty tin atop the fridge, or make some "Heavenly Biscuits" together… Wouldn't it be great to make an alphabet book together and have first reading lessons, or just to sit and read beautiful picture books…* and I share with God my hopes, but refuse to set my heart upon them. I will trust Him with whatever my future holds. Herein is peace, and purpose. Yes, and joy! Because cultivating a patient, meek and thankful heart, deeply contented with whatever God provides is likely the best prophylactic for idolatry.

I close with Martin Luther's thoughts on idolatry:

"All those who do not at all times trust God and do not in all their works or sufferings, life and death, trust in his favor, grace and good-will, but seek His favor in other things or in themselves, do not keep this [First] Commandment, and practice real idolatry…" from A Treatise on Good Works, PartX,18

--LS

"…we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in his hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." Rom.8:22-26

P.S. I still regularly check out picture books from the library, a habit I can’t quite give up. For those of you blessed with children near at hand, don’t miss reading this week’s find:The Gardener, by Sarah Stewart. illus. by David Small. It’s  a perfect story for springtime. See more here.

Spotting Idols

While I was thinking about the implications of discouragement and how it can be an indicator of idolatry, a very timely article*  came to my "Inbox"  regarding the hopeless spiral of pursuing things other than God, i.e. idolatry. [If you missed last week’s remarks on idolatry you may want to read: Why you are Discouraged]  Commenting on Romans 1:22,23, T.M. Moore demonstrates just how making anything but God our ultimate desire in life sets us on a track destined to lead us into foolishness and ultimately disappointment… He says it best:

When people hope in transient things, they’ll do whatever seems right in their own eyes – whatever they think makes sense or feel to be in their best interests. But these mostly leave them disappointed and looking for somewhere else to place their fading hopes.

The conscience holds and reads the maps of life. It guides the mind and heart through the many options facing us as we pursue our hopes and dreams. When people reject the knowledge of God they do not reject the need for values, priorities, and default choices. Instead, because they are not focused on God and His Word to guide them in tutoring their wills, they lean on created things: wealth, success, fun, fame, attention, power, and all the usual idols of our age in flight from God. Once a person establishes one or more of these as his ultimate objective in life, the tumblers in the conscience fall into lockstep with the demands of their chosen idol, and all their values and priorities line up accordingly.

From that point forward the conscience and will are trapped in a Chinese handcuffs of self-serving, foolish decisions and choices, and sooner or later, most people end up doing really dumb things. Strive and struggle though they may to make their wills bend in more wholesome directions, those who will not embrace the Gospel of Jesus will always fall for a lesser god, which is no god at all, and the whole, sad cycle of folly repeats itself anew. Hopes fade and must be reconstructed; changes disappoint, yet we insist on more; and the ability to do anything different eludes those who are trapped in the downward spiral of sin…

Granted, this writer refers to unbelievers, but clearly idolatry is a temptation for believers also especially when we lose sight of the hope of the Gospel. When we "make anything but God our ultimate desire in life" we are setting ourselves up as idolaters and in the process missing out on the righteousness, peace an joy that are earmarks of our inheritance as subjects of God's Kingdom! (Rom.14:17)

Jonah had a reality check on this. After fleeing from God, choosing to make his own travel arrangements, he was brought to his knees inside a whale after a frightening near-drowning. Here he came to the incisive conclusion that "Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs." (Jonah 2:8) Another rendering of 'worthless idols' is 'lying vanities'. In other words, all things worthless, temporal and 'not-as-they-seem'.

Though Jonah didn't want this mission he was assigned, this dunking 'reset' his sense of appreciation for the one true God whom he was called to serve. It restored him to his senses and he declared: "Salvation belongs to the LORD!" I imagine that as he shook the water out of his ears he resolved to be done with pretending to be his own god or any other such 'lying vanities!' He realized that any strategy for his own ‘salvation’ other than calling on God is worthless!

What vain hopes have I set my heart on instead of, or in addition to, God? What do I believe I need in order to be  truly happy? Have I gladly submitted myself to His rule and calling in my life or am I attempting to pull off an escape route? What strategies do I use to get what I want when my circumstances aren’t quite to my liking?

There is a better alternative than grasping at ‘lying vanities’.  David immortalized the right response when he wrote these words:

"Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth. I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the LORD.” (Ps.31:3-6)

This line would later be quoted by Jesus on the Cross. Psalm 31 is a precious trove of all things true of our God, that should keep us from ever being tempted to idolatry…

"Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you." (19)
 
It's a beautiful model to follow when times are discouraging, seemingly hopeless, or just plain SCARY, and we're tempted to scramble for relief elsewhere!

One thing I've realized this week is that it's certainly easier to spot potential idols in someone else's life than to recognize my own. I came across some helpful indicators in a sermon, "A Turn to God from Idols" taken from I Thess.1:7-10…**   After asserting that idolatry is a universal and perennial sin that everyone struggles with, Rev. Ligon Duncan went on to define an idol as "anything in which we think we can get ultimate security and satisfaction apart from God." Then just in case that was a little too nebulous he suggested three questions that may help us to pinpoint potential idols in our own lives:

1--What do you think about? What are the things in those quiet moments when you’re away from the press of the immediate demand and the fight of the day, what is that thing that you think about that gives you hope and delight? When you begin to identify that thing or those things, you’re coming close to identifying your idols.

2- How do you spend your time, your resources, and your energy? Because when you look at those three things and you ask that question, you’re going to see the things that you really care about.

3-What disappoints me? What absolutely crushes me with disappointment? And chances are, if you answer that question honestly of yourself you’re going to find an idol. There’s going to be something that you think that you need to have, or something that you desperately want to have that you don’t have, and you’re disappointed by it. It may be a situation that you have in your life that you don’t want. It may be a situation that you do not have in your life that you do want. And you are crushingly disappointed by it. It may have to do with your family life. It may have to do with your vocation. It may have to do with your children or your parents, but you are disappointed by it. And if you’ll think about it for a while, you may well be able to identify your idols.

As I've mulled these over I've re-framed them for myself.

--What preoccupies my thoughts when they're not busy with life at hand?

--What unfulfilled wants hinder me from being fully satisfied with God and worshipping Him with a joyful heart? In other words: What excuses do I make for postponing joy? (Though the fig tree has not yet blossomed will I trust God? )

--What prospect has the ability to fill me with sickening dread, esp. in the middle of the night? ( If the fig tree never blossoms will I still rejoice in my God)

These questions hit closer to home for me, helping to pinpoint those things that tug at my heart and keep it from whole-hearted worship of the only God worthy of my worship. When other things/people/goals capture my heart to the extent that I can't live joyfully without them, I have entered dangerous territory. I now have cause to live in fear, anxiety, depression and discouragement…for what I need could be taken away or never granted! I'm not designed to live this way.

I'm reminded of the first question in the Westminster Confession:

What is the chief end of man?
The answer—"to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever" as evidenced in such texts as these:

Psalm 144:15: Happy are the people who are in such a state; Happy are the people whose God is the LORD!

Isaiah 12:2. Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation

No wonder the foremost command is to love the Lord with all my heart, soul, mind and strength. There will be no room left for rivals and no need of any!

And this brings Jesus' words about hating family into perspective. "If any [man] come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." Lk.14:26

My love for Him must be so much greater than my desires for my own flesh and blood, that I will never be swayed from devotion to God by my natural desires for my family's well-being. It begins to make sense. Only in worshiping God with my whole-heart am I prepared to love my family rightly, rather than making their well-being my chief end.

But I am talking to myself now. I will leave you with these thoughts on idolatry. May God teach us to find our satisfaction in Him. Nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. Then discouragements will not defeat us and joy will be our companion even in bitter disappointments. The things of earth grow strangely dim when we focus on Him…

Turn your eyes upon Jesus

--LS

This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Eph.4:17,18

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation. Ps.42:5  

Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD. Ps.31:24

For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;
He is to be feared above all gods,
For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols
but the LORD made the heavens! Ps.96:4,5

 

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*T.M.Moore, "Saved from Foolish Choices" Part 5 of Real Hope. Real Change series, available at ColsonCenter.org .

**Rev.J. Ligon Duncan III, “Living Life in Light of Jesus’ Return: A Turn to God from Idols”.  I Thess. 1:7-10.   May 20, 2012. Transcript available here.

*** Lyrics for Turn your Eyes Upon Jesus available here.

Why You are Discouraged

I 'tuned in' online to a short sound-bite on "Wretched TV" * which has kept me ruminating all week. It had the innocuous title: "Why You are Discouraged". I don't know what explanation I was expecting. But this wasn't it. Have you ever considered the connection between discouragement and idolatry?! I hadn't either. But consider this…

Cutting right to the point, Todd Friel posed the question: "Are you discouraged because your idol has not come to fruition." Huh? My idol? I may be a little discouraged because I want to see certain things happen/or not, in my church, or in my family, or in my own life but…idolatry?! He explained it this way: When the things that we desire move beyond wants to needs, demands, "I gotta' have it!", our desires--legitimate though they may be, have become idols…

Then came this sermon clip by Rev. J.Ligon Duncan:

"In disappointment and discouragement we are tempted to succumb to idolatry". Why? Because "we are tempted to think that there is a greater treasure that has been withheld or taken from us than what God has or can give to us."

Oh. Wow. Sounds like the Garden--luscious fruit, strong desire, subtle temptation to doubt God's intent and goodness, and Zammo! I think I wanna' be in charge! Red Flag—who's going to be god here? Is that what is happening when things don't seem to be working out just as I'd like to see? But they're good things, 'right' things, surely God wants them too… However, I reveal my heart's loyalties when the deferment or denial of my longings plunges me into deep disappointment and discouragement. When what I want (and I think God wants) becomes what I must have to be happy. When I withhold whole-hearted joy-filled worship of God because I'm just not quite satisfied with what He's doing/not doing for me…well something's up. And that something may just be called idolatry!

Todd put it something like this: How is discouragement related to idolatry? If you are worshiping God with all your heart, soul and mind, it doesn't matter if you get x,y, or z you already have the best thing that there is! But when we practically forget the Gospel, we will set up other things as idols and take Jesus off the throne…

Hmm… it’s worth thinking about.  You can view the whole 2 minute clip for yourself HERE.

Peter too reminds us that an effective and fruitful faith is contingent on remembering what we have been saved from, while not losing sight of the hope we are called to. (II Pet.1:8-11) We have after all, been brought into fellowship with the Creator of the universe who supplies our every need and lives His life through us…When we hang onto this LIVING God, by faith, idols lose their luster. They can't deliver the comfort, the significance, the security, or the HELP!! we need. They weren't designed to. When we forget this we will end up discouraged.

Have we succumbed to that original temptation to believe that God's holding out on us? Not giving us what we most want and need? Withholding the best from us…and it’s up to us to ‘get a life’ as best we can? Billy Joel gives this impression of God in his catchy tune: "Only the Good Die Young" as if to do things God's way were to miss out on life. Does that make sense?

If God is the author of life and the giver of every good gift (Ja.1:17), can we not trust that He will do for us all that is best and in the perfect timing? Can we not trust that the boundaries He sets, the 'good things' He denies, the race and its pace that He sets for each of us (Heb.12:1) is ALL for our greatest good and His highest glory? Billy Joel is wrong.

"For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory; no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly." (Ps.84:11) He is the one who "satisfies with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's."(Ps.103:5)

To believe otherwise sets us up to fall for idols--to grasp at straws in search of a more effective strategy for getting our will done, (or His will done our way!?). These idols won't be carved statues probably. Others may not recognize them. But when we go searching for 'something more' than what God has provided for life and godliness in the knowledge of Him, (II Pet.1) whether it be a more dynamic 'spirituality' or a magic key to success and favor, we are following in the error of the Israelites who could never rest content for long with their own God and were always looking to gain something by following the customs of the nations around them. They had the same problem we do. They wanted something they could see. They wanted worship that felt good. They exchanged the glory of their immortal, invisible, holy God for man-made images. (Rom.1:23) They worshiped in ways that were an abomination to their God. And they missed out on the worship they were created for.

God saw and ached for their return. I’ve been reading Jeremiah lately with its poignant passages on idolatry, from God's point of view:

"For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water." Jer.2:13

Thus says the LORD: "What wrong did your fathers find in me that they went far from me, and went after (vanity) worthlessness, and became worthless?" Jer.2:5

Behold, the cry of the daughter of my people from the length and breadth of the land: "Is the LORD not in Zion? Is her King not in her?" "Why have they provoked me to anger with their carved images and with their foreign idols?" Jer.8:19

"…they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein; but have walked after the imagination of their own heart and after Baalim" Jer.9:14

What a grief idolatry brings, to our hearts and God’s.

More next time, on spotting the culprit, and by God’s grace being done with it!

--LS

And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen. I Jn.5:20,21

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Have you met Todd Friel of Wretched TV?

This conservative Christian radio/TV talk show host always has something provocative/ witty/ insightful to say.  Defending the Word of God and the unadulterated Gospel is his passion. Short daily blurbs cover a range of issues—sample his sound bites at YouTube.