1 Thessalonians 1:8-10 (NIV) 8 The Lord's
message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia--your faith in God
has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it,
9 for they themselves report what kind of reception you
gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and
true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom
he raised from the dead--Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
As I read this passage this morning,
the words “turned to God from idols” began to roll around in my mind. John
Calvin called the human heart an idol factory, and it seems to me we are always
moving in one of two directions: to God from idols or to idols from God. Jesus
told the Pharisees that people were either with Him or against Him – either
gathering with him or scattering. (Matthew 12:30) There was no neutral ground.
This can certainly be frustrating to anyone who knows who Jesus is, but does
not want to commit to him. The person who knows who Christ is, but wishes to
“have fun” or “do my own thing for a while”, is making some significant
assumptions. First of all, he is assuming he will have an opportunity at some
future point to turn to God. The Scripture tells us not to boast about
tomorrow, for we do not know what a day will bring forth (Proverbs 27:1). And
Jesus called the rich man who built his barns a fool, because that very night
his life would be required of him. (Luke 12:16-21) It is foolish to assume that
we will have time to turn to God before we die. And then, secondly, he is
presuming he is innocent of being against Christ. His assumption is that he has
never intentionally or willfully said a bad word about Jesus or done anything
to offend Him or “harm” Him. Therefore Jesus should be “okay” with him. The
problem is that Jesus perceives “neutrality” to be opposition. That person who
is supposedly neutral regarding Jesus is “moving to idols” just as much as a
person who hates Jesus Christ is. And usually it’s not a matter of overt hate.
It’s more a matter of simply loving the idols more.
What are the idols? The things we trust more than
God. The things we look to for comfort and help instead of looking to God. The
things that are more important to us than God. The things we spend more time
with, more money on, and use more energy for – with no thought for or regard to
God. Idols can even be good things in our lives – even some of God’s own gifts
to us: like a relationship, a job, or a material blessing of some kind.
Whenever we come to love the “goodies” more than the good Giver, we are in
danger of moving toward idols. On several occasions Jesus spoke of following
Him. He said once that it is impossible to follow Him without “hating” one’s
father, mother… (family). Jesus does not promote hate-filled relationships
here. But He does require a love for Him that supersedes all other loves. We
are either moving to God from idols or to idols from God.
In his sermon, The Great Polarizer, Kent Hughes said, “Jesus is the great polarizer. It's as if all of humanity were iron
filings laid out on a sheet of paper, and Jesus is the magnet. Every single
filing lines up either with the North Pole or the South Pole. Every person is
either attracted to or repelled by the person of Jesus Christ, because he's a
magnet. The power and influence of his very being cannot be ignored.” Wherever
a person is in life, whatever he or she believes, our time here will come to an
end. It may come when Jesus comes again or when we die, but it will come. And
we will face Him – with nothing but the truth of who and what we are, and what
we have loved the most. As C. S. Lewis warned, "That will not be the time for choosing. It will be the time when
we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realized it or
not."
Each day in our life in Christ affords
an opportunity to step away from idols. We do this because we are a new
creation in Christ. We do this because He first loved us. We do this for the
joy that awaits those who love the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind, and
strength. We do this because we’re family (with God) now, because we have been
adopted as His children who have been clothed with the righteousness of Christ.
We do this by and because of God’s grace, which gives us a hope and a future
that no idol – as wonderful as it could seem to be – can give. May the Lord
deliver us daily – hourly – moment by moment if need be, from the idols we
would create apart from His presence and grace. AMEN!
2 Corinthians 6:1-2 (NIV) 1 As God's fellow workers we urge you not to
receive God's grace in vain. 2 For he says, "In
the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped
you." I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of
salvation.
Isaiah 42:8 (NIV) "I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another
or my praise to idols.
PRAYER: Father, show me the subtlety of how things in
this world want my worship. Keep my heart pure, and may I be singularly and
wholeheartedly devoted to you in love. In the choices that lay before me today,
may I move toward you, and not toward an idol of any kind. To your glory. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”
Jesus
Christ is Lord!
Scott
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