Isaiah 57: 11-13
And of whom have you been afraid, or feared, That you have lied And not remembered Me, Nor taken it to your heart? Is it not because I have held My peace from of old That you do not fear Me? I will declare your righteousness, And your works, For they will not profit you. When you cry out, Let your collection of idols deliver you. But the wind will carry them all away, A breath will take them. But he who puts his trust in Me shall possess the land, And shall inherit My holy mountain.
Some years ago, my friend and her husband acquired a property.
But fate had other plans, for soon after their acquisition, duty called, and they had to go away on cross-postings, leaving their property behind.
Determined not to let their land languish in neglect, they made a noble decision to entrust the care of their property to someone, with one simple request: cultivate the land, and no need to worry about returns. It was an act of generosity, born from a heart to help others while also preserving their property.
Fast forward a couple of years, my friends, now ready to develop their long-neglected property, approach the caretaker with a courteous request to vacate.
But the caretaker, having grown accustomed to the comforts of the land, was unwilling to relinquish his hold. He stood his ground, adamant in his refusal to depart. He wasn’t ready to leave and he wasn’t going to leave!
It was like a joke! Days turned into weeks, weeks into months, and still, the stalemate persisted, at least not until my friends got the police involved.
You see, dear reader, the struggle my friends faced mirrors a deeper spiritual reality.
Just as the caretaker clung tenaciously to the property, many of us cling to our own idols, unwilling to surrender them to the rightful owner—our Creator.
The reason why many people struggle to truly fear God and reverence Him in their hearts, is because knowingly or unknowingly they have allowed other gods to take residence within.
The lack of reverence for God is the fruit that grows from the tree of idolatry, a tree whose roots run deep within the human heart.
God’s very first commandment to His people echoes through the ages: “You shall have no other gods before Me.” It’s a timeless reminder that anything, absolutely anything, can morph into an idol the moment it usurps God’s central place in our lives.
In today’s world, idols come in various guises: money, food, success—things we desire so intensely that they eclipse our intimacy with God.
And here’s the kicker: some of these things aren’t inherently bad. It’s only when they take center stage in our hearts, displacing God, that they become “god” in our lives.
Until we dethrone these false gods, we remain at risk of losing the awe and reverence due to the one true God.
So, what’s the antidote? It’s a simple yet profound shift: replacing our devotion to these false gods with an unwavering commitment to God Himself. He must reign supreme in our hearts, overshadowing all else. When He does, our devotion to everything and everyone else just fades away.
And there are myriad ways to make Him the focal point of our devotion.
Take worship, for instance. As we respond to Him in worship, He becomes our greatest object of devotion.
This is more than just a Sunday morning ritual; it’s a lifestyle of genuine reverence, honor, and adoration for God—for who He is and all He’s done. It’s about acknowledging His rightful place in our lives and giving Him the adulation He deserves. That is what we were created for.
But devotion to God doesn’t stop at worship; it extends to obedience to His Word. True devotion demands action—it requires effort and commitment to obey Him.
As James aptly puts it, we’re called to be “doers of the word, and not hearers only.”
In essence, this is a gentle yet urgent call to examine our own lives and root out any idols that may have taken residence within. For only when they are expelled from the throne of our hearts can we truly experience the awe-inspiring power of fearing the one true God.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, we come before You with humble hearts, acknowledging that there is a void within us—a God-shaped vacuum that no idol can ever satisfy. Forgive us, Lord, for attempting to fill that void with anything and everything other than You.
Holy Spirit, open the eyes of our hearts to the subtle idols vying for God’s devotion in our lives and grant us the courage and the wisdom to dethrone them and enthrone God as the unrivaled King of our hearts.
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