UGA Wesley

There are some things for all of us that capture our attention more than it should. Now “should” is a pretty loaded term, and usually brings along a whole heap of guilt and/or shame. What I mean, though, is there is something inside of us in moments that we are captured that makes a quiet (or loud) request for attention: “hey, this may not be the best thing,” “don’t go there…don’t go there again,” “at some point, this __ has got to go.”
The Bible calls these things idols, those things that compete with God for control of our lives. And we each have our own tendencies toward one or the other. We are given to comfort or happiness—whatever course in life makes us most comfortable or happy, that’s the one we’ll pursue. Some of us are controlled by compulsions that leave us feeling completely lost, hopeless and without God.
So how do we manage idols (especially without the contact of our regular sources of encouragement)? As much as the scriptures are prone to name idols, there is an equally strong solution: destruction. Destroy the idol.
Most of us have given ourselves to a sense in which we hope it will go away (“God just take this from me”) or that we’ll be able to muster up enough strength to push through (“it’s going to be different from here on out”). The scriptures are clear, though, that God’s deliverance isn’t mostly reflected in casually removing things. Equally clear is that things mostly aren’t going to be different because we make a vow to be better next time. Most of the time, we walk out of it leaning our whole weight on the Holy Spirit.
Two ideas are helpful to me here.
From Proverbs 3: Guard your heart, because the wellsprings of life come from it.
And from Hebrews 3: Take care, brothers, lest there should be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart, in falling away from the living God. Encourage one another, as long as it is still called “Today,” lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

We need to guard our hearts with great diligence—deal honestly with the idols that control us. And we need community. You don’t overcome on your own.

Questions: Are there things that beg for (or get) your attention in ways that put them before the Lord? How can you deal honestly with those idols?

Challenge: Pray for God to give you a strategy for escape. If this doesn't apply to you directly, pray for the community in this area.