PSALM 16:4a – “The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply . . .”

THEME OF THE DAY: WATCH OUT FOR IDOLATRY. I confess I am a man of limited talents. I love music, but I have zero talents when it comes to music. I don’t know how to read those funny numbers in hymn books; when I see the word “refrain” I think it means “stop”, and when someone describes something in a song called a “bridge”, I am thinking something I drive over. Yet, I love to listen to music. When it comes to Christian music, I love the hymns written and sung by Keith and Kristyn Getty. In other types of music, I really enjoy James Taylor. He sings a song titled “Going to Carolina in My Mind”. I counted thirteen times he sings that phrase. I want to say, “Mr. Taylor, I get it. You are consumed in the mind with Carolina. That is all you are thinking about.” Well, in my life right now, though I am not a song writer, I got a title for one that mirrors Taylor’s – “Going to Ecclesiastes in My Mind”.

When a person obeys the command to “study the scripture” and gives themselves over to diligently devouring a particular book or section of scripture, it begins to consume one’s thinking. Let me give a challenge. Take a short New Testament book. I did the book of Colossians. Read it, the entire book, every day, unhurried, for thirty days. It will renew your mind and transform your thinking. As I did with Colossians, I begin to see my world through Colossians, but more importantly, I saw Jesus Christ clearer as His Word transformed my mind. And that brings us back to my “song” – “Going to Ecclesiastes in My Mind.” Our church is currently going through the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes on Sunday mornings. I am immersed in this book and it is changing me, and hopefully others. If one wants to get a really good picture of what life is all about, read Ecclesiastes. It will awaken a person to the reality of the futility of life lived outside or not under the Lordship of Christ. Anyway, today’s scripture would fit well into Ecclesiastes. David describes exactly what Solomon does through his wisdom book. Not in the same language, but in the same result.

David proclaims that people who seek anything – meaning in life, purpose in life, and satisfaction in life from “another god” will find the journey ending with nothing but sorrow. Solomon in Ecclesiastes says the same thing but with much more depth and length. If a person is seeking to find pleasure and purpose apart from the One true God, it will be futile, worthless, and produce nothing but misery and sorrow. For Christians who attempt to find satisfaction in “other gods’, it will bring more. It will invite displeasure and painful chastisement from the God who so loves them that He will not allow them to find contentment apart from Him. But for Christians, the stakes are even higher if we try to have heaven AND earth in our hearts. Please pay close attention to the words that follow if we want to see the seriousness of seeking soul-satisfaction outside of the Lord Jesus. Any person, anything, any achievement, any vocation, any pursuit, any pleasure, or any desire which exceeds our affection for Jesus Christ is an idol. If we allow anything or anyone to sit on the throne of our hearts instead of Jesus Christ; if we allow anything or anyone to chart the course of our lives instead of the scriptures and the Lordship of Jesus Christ, we are believers guilty of idolatry. The Lord has made it clear we are to have no other gods before Him and that He, He alone, is to be the chief passion and pursuit in life. And if we guard ourselves to this end, we will know great joy and true pleasure of walking with Him. If we don’t guard our hearts and allow the idols of the world to take up residency within us, sorrow and discontent will abound robbing of us of intimacy with the Lord Jesus.

Yes, beloved brothers and sisters, we can easily commit the sin of idolatry. Let’s ask God to help us and then be an answer to our own prayers by not allowing, even for one second, a seeking from the gods of this world only what the One True God can provide – contentment, satisfaction, and purpose in life.

PRAYER: Father, help me to see and believe nothing or no one can satisfy my soul but You.

REFLECTION: Anything or anyone exceeding our affection for Jesus Christ in our hearts and lives is an idol.