Idols, or nah?

Some of us have that lingering dream/fantasy of what our family will be like. When I was growing up, it was a husband, wife, 2.5 children, a dog, and a white picket fence. Back then, the television shows that came on reinforced the idea of mommy and daddy caring for their picture-perfect children. While I know the idea of what a modern-day family looks like has changed, some of our ideals have not.

The ideals and plans we have for our families can drive the decisions we make, for the good or for the bad. We decide where we will live, work, and who we will be friends with based on what we desire our family make-up to be. Are they married, do they have children, are they Christians? Our list is typically impeccable and without flaw. We’ve planned everything and all we need for things to go off without a hitch are the people that fit the plan. The husband, the kids, the house, and the dog are prepared for but where are they?

Exodus 20:1-6 1 And God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments

What happens when all of your planning and preparation turns into idolatry? When your dream of what a family looks like replaces God on the throne of your life, you may be bowing down to something that doesn’t have the ability to save you. The Lord is clear in His Word. We should have NO other gods before Him. It’s not just those things that we are quick to label as “sin”. It’s even rewards that He promises to those that diligently seek Him. It’s those things that you want to glorify Him with. It could be marriage, success, ministry, finances, or even….children. For those of us who are believing that the Lord will open our wombs we have the tendency to start bowing down to the idea of conceiving and giving birth. Our focus shifts from God to the bouncing bundles of joy that we so desperately desire.

That’s the trick the enemy tries to use to get us to dishonor the commitment we’ve made to God. Because our hearts are deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9-10) we have the tendency to build little gods that have our affection instead of totally surrendering to God. It’s not as obvious as murder, cheating, or blasphemy but it’s just as harmful to our souls. Idolatry is when you’ve put anything in God’s place in your life. Even if you haven’t built an altar to your unborn child, you may have a brazen image in your heart. What do you do when good things replace your God?

You destroy them!

Exodus 32:20 He took the calf that they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the people of Israel drink it.

That doesn’t mean forgetting the desires of your heart but it does mean seeing them for what they are. They are important to God but not as important as God! He is the Savior of your soul and the Lord of your life. He is jealous for you and He won’t share the throne of your heart with anyone else. It’s up to you to put things back in their proper place. God loves you too much to take your choice away from you. He loves you enough to give you the option to place everything else under His authority. 

He won’t force you, you will have to choose.

So let me ask. Do you have idols, or nah?

With All My Love,
Mrs. Truscott