Scripture: Luke 4:8 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”
Devotion: One way that we are called as Christians to look different than the rest of the world is that we are to worship only one God. This automatically sets us apart from some other religions. For example, Buddhism does not recognize a creator god. On the extreme other end, Hinduism recognizes so many gods that it is difficult to even find an answer to how many gods they have. Christianity calls us to worship the one true God and Him alone.
But this command also sets us apart from other idol worship. One of the most common receivers of worship in our world today is the self. The world claims that you need to love yourself first, put yourself first, and care for yourself until you are truly happy. We also often fall into the trap of worshipping our safety and security, the approval of others, our relationships, our health, our wealth, and our comfort. These are natural desires to have. We want to steward these things well. But the issue becomes when we place them on a pedestal in our life. Tim Keller defines an idol as, “Anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, and anything that you seek to give you what only God can give.” Cue the conviction. The truth is, all of us have an idol in our life. Whether it was something that was named above or something that only you know about it, we all have times when we are giving our hearts and attention to something or someone other than God.
The world often celebrates putting yourself before others, chasing money so you can live luxuriously, or even putting your kids and their activities as the top priority in your life. This is where Christianity looks different. We are called to put God on the throne of our heart. And when we have something else there, as we often do, we can confess that to our Heavenly Father. We need to recognize the things that are taking our time and affection away from Him. Then, we can let His love and forgiveness wash over us. We allow Him the opportunity to the first-place spot in our lives. Little by little, we lay down the things of this life to give Him the first priority.
Reflect:
- What is currently taking your time and affection away from the Lord?
- How can you give that over to Him?
