Howdy!

Howdy friend! Glad you took the time to stop by and see what's happing in the Basham house. So I hope you will grab your favorite cup of tea and find enjoyment and encouragement from what you read.

The journey is beginning....








Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Idols

One of my favorite shows on TV each year is American Idol. I love how everyday people, some with talent and some severely lacking talent, go on national TV to reach for their dream. They struggle with song choice, losing their voices, working with groups and criticism, both good and bad, from folks in the business. I love to hear their stories and to see them succeed and move on to the next level. I'm sad when one of my favorites go home early but I rejoice when God has other plans for them like He did with Mandisa.

As I began to watch this season God began to open my eyes to the meaning of the word Idol. Websters Dictionary defines idol as "an image worshipped as a god; an object of passionate devotion." While most of us can't say that we have a golden calf in our home that we pray to daily I think we would all agree that we have items in our lives that we hold a "passionate devotion" for. I am amazed at how many objects in my daily life takes away from my relationship with God, and I've begun to seek that He help reveal those idols in my life.

Isn't it amazing that we will rush home to catch a game or a show on TV because we don't want to miss a thing. We will set our DVRs or TIVOs so that we can stay in the loop. We have phones that help us stay connected with text messages, facebook and twitter. Technology is amazing and we are very blessed to be so very connected but I can't help but wonder how many of us rush home to catch up on where we left off in our Bible reading. How many of us can't wait to get on our knees and be humbled before our God, to converse with him and share our dreams, our tears, our hurts, without an agenda to quickly end our time so that we can move onto the next thing.

God wants us to be 'passionately devoted' to our lives, our families and our churches but He ultimately wants us to be 'passionately devoted' to Him above all else. He longs for us to run home to catch the next glimpse of what He has to share with us - whether in our readings or our prayer times. I find myself guilty of short changing God many times in favor of other passions but I am desperately asking that He help to create that passionate devotion for Him in my everyday walk. How can I be expected to build a lasting, passionate relationship with my Heavenly Father when my time and energy is spent on something or someone else? Just as we need to spend quality time with our spouses, children, family and friends, we must devote quality time to develop our relationship with God.

God will bless the other relationships in our lives when we pour our hearts into building a relationship with Him. When we choose to make Him our idol that we are passionately devoted to.

I challenge you with this: How many idols are your passionately devoted to in your life? Is God your number one devotion?

1 comment:

  1. Tracey...I just wanted to tell you how awesome this is. I read all through it earlier today and loved it...I just wanted to give you some encouragement...The other day I heard someone use the term "Sophistocated Idolator." I think that this goes hand in hand with what you are writing about...Today's idols are not statues of some dude...they are things like tv, internet, and money...Again Awesome!

    ReplyDelete