A Devotion
Posted by Lynette
Posted by Lynette
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” - Mark 12:30
Today I want to talk about idolatry and I’ll be speaking from experience…
I have idolized everything from marriage—believing it to be a “fix all” to my problems, my job—that somehow I was defined and my worth determined by what I did and how well I did it, even ministry—how well I served others or not.
But, more specifically, I want to talk about relationships. Whether it is a relationship with your boyfriend, your mom, your best friend, or your sister—any relationship is idolatrous when it is co-dependent.
Relationships that are codependent take precedence over the areas of your life that really should belong to God.
Is your identity based in the person and not God’s love for you?
Does that particular relationship overshadow all other relationships? Including your relationship with the Lord?
Do you find your identity in what that person thinks about you? Instead of in the loving truth of who God says you are?
Has your focus been diverted from the Lord and placed on something lesser?
The very definition of idol says that it is only an “image” or “representation” of a god.
Idols are lesser. As long as we maintain our idols, we cannot love God with our whole hearts, souls, minds and all our strength. God is a jealous God, and he is jealous for you.
So what should we do?
“…Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols in the fire. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession” (Deuteronomy 7:5-6).
So, to my sister who keeps running back to the boyfriend who you just love so much, and can’t be without, even though you know somewhere deep down inside it’s bad news. Stop. Run to the loving arms of Jesus.
To my sister who has to have their mom always be there because they can’t be without her. Breathe and rest and give yourself a break. I promise you, you are just fine without her.
We need to abandon the things we so tightly cling to so that our hands are open to receive the things God wants to give us. We cannot receive with closed hands.
