The Idols In Your Life
LENT 2024 | DAY 25
Mark 10:17-31 (NIV)
(Irwin Seet, Chairperson, Worship & Music)
A friend of mine was very active in Church from a young age. However, as he got older and more successful in the corporate world, I noticed a gradual change in him. While he still attended church sporadically, I noticed that he was becoming very materialistic and would often share with me his goals of purchasing the latest sports car, branded watch or a new property that was being launched.
In today’s passage, Jesus encountered a man who was besotted with his wealth and was not willing to give it up, even for the promise of eternal life. In his book “Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters”, Timothy Keller defines an idol as “anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give….An idol is whatever you look at and say, in your heart of hearts, “If I have that, then I’ll feel my life has meaning, then I’ll know I have value, then I’ll feel significant and secure.”
Idols do not have to just come in the form of material wealth. They can also come in the need for success, approval and validation from others, body image, sports, status, fear. As I reflect on my own life, I ask myself: what personal idols do I serve knowingly or unknowingly? Work is clearly one idol and the demands of work sometimes take my attention away from serving in church. The pursuit of wealth and possessions is also an idol that distracts me in my Christian walk.
The following are some practical steps that I can take to rid myself of these idols in my life:
1. Practise accountability in my small group.
2. Practise stewardship through time management and the giving of tithes.
3. Evaluate my heart daily to assess if there is anything or person that is taking first place over God, and repent before God.
4. Commit to fast from certain unhealthy past-times or inordinate affections which the Lord may reveal to me.
5. Practise spiritual disciplines.
One of my favourite choruses has these words: “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face. And the things of Earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.” May each of us continue to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.
DISCUSSION POINTERS:
1. Share with someone what idols you have in your life.
2. What are the dangers of having these idols?
3. What practical steps will you take to rid yourself of these idols in your life?
