What shakes you?

Just a few quick thoughts this morning... I've been thinking a great deal about some of the things Pastor Mark shared yesterday morning. There were several items that he spoke on that struck so close to home. Using the story of Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22:1-19, Mark discussed idols. Idols are not just the obvious things - things that evoke a negative connotation and bring to mind "idolatry" when you mention them - things like money, fame, and power. Idols can be anything that comes between you and God. For instance, in this passage, God tells Abraham to "take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love" to sacrifice as a burnt offering. In today's society, how heinous does that sound? But in Abraham's time, can you imagine it? Abraham, who waited nearly a hundred years for the blessing of his son Isaac, was now being asked to sacrifice him. Why, one might ask, would God ask that of Abraham?

Abraham had allowed Isaac to become an idol in his heart. God's particular wording indicates this. Mark explained that God didn't just say "Abraham. Go and sacrific your son." He clarified and qualified the command. He told Abraham to sacrific his only son, the son whom Abraham loves. Abraham needed this experience to recognize that he had allowed Isaac to become an idol. He was faithful, though. In Gen. 22:5, Abraham told his servants that he and Isaac were going to worship and that "we" (both he and Isaac) would be back. How did he know that? He couldn't have known that God would spare Isaac, or that God would then provide a ram in the thicket to sacrifice. Can you imagine the faithfulness to follow through the way Abraham did in this passage? He must have had faith that the God who had the power to bring Abraham the desire of his heart - a son, an heir - even at his and his wife's advanced age also had the power to bring his son back.

God spared Isaac. To me, this was a heart check, a conviction that God provided to Abraham. Through it, Abraham was able to see that he had allowed Isaac to become more important than God.

This illustration astounds me. How easy is it for that to happen? You would never even think about the sin of idolatry being commited in this sense, at least I wouldn't. Your children? More important than God? What if it's a situation like Abraham's? How easy would it be to put up on a pedestal and all but worship a child that has been so long awaited and so long desired? This is true of other things that we would not necessarily associate with idolatry, as well. Relationships, spouses, romance, order, control, academic success, career, you name it. Who would think that these "positive, wholesome" things could be idols? Do they come between you and God? Do they get more of your time and attention than your Holy Father? Well, then... it's time for a heart check.

Pastor Mark quoted a man that said "Idols are the things that cause you to shake when they are shaken." What shakes you?





Another thought he shared that shook me was the idea that God provides the things that we desire most in life (as in more than a desire to draw close to Him) as a punishment so that we are then enslaved in bondage to our own idols. What an eye-opener. I praise the Lord for equipping Pastor Mark to share His word in such a profound and convicting manner. I am so thankful for a much needed heart check, and I think we would all be so lucky to have one... on a regular basis.

Dear Lord,

Thank you for your Word and for your faithfulness. Please protect my heart and my mind from the things of this world. Remind me daily of your awesomeness and your power. Draw me close to you, and transform me - in every way - to be like you. Convict me when I allow other things to creep in and come between us - order, relationships, success, family members - and please forgive me when I let this happen. Please allow me to always trust in you, always look to you, always strive to be with you, to know you, and to glorify you. In your precious Son's name, I pray.

Amen.