Idols of the Heart预览

Do you remember the day you decided to become a Christ follower? In the 1970s we used to sing “I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back." We would go up for prayer for salvation to the choir singing “All to Jesus I surrender, all to Thee I freely give.” I still get goosebumps as I think of those days and what it meant to give my heart to Jesus.

However, for many of us, we get caught up in the daily-ness of life. We forget the commitment we made to surrender all and follow Jesus wholeheartedly. Different affections grab at our hearts. So how do I live as a new creation wholly devoted to Jesus?

Here are some truths I would like to remind ourselves of before we dive into this devotional.

9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession. 1Peter 2:9

PEOPLE OF PURPOSE AND PRESENCE

God has chosen you for a purpose and to become someone unique.

He made you a chosen people (so it’s not just you alone; you are knitted to a worldwide web of believers).

Not just that — he made you a royal priesthood!!! You serve before the King of Kings.

A Holy Nation — God always wanted a people for Himself who would be a light for the world, that through them many would come to salvation.

WHY?

So that we may show forth the praises of Him to the ones who still do not know Him.

We need to realize that, while we have been made righteous in Christ, we must walk away from our former loves. It is like saying goodbye to all the old boyfriends/girlfriends because you are now engaged to Jesus and there is a grand wedding that awaits all of us at the end of time. The old loves are akin to the idols of the heart. These are things or people (not necessarily bad in themselves; in fact, they can even be very good things) that we love more than Jesus.

REFLECTIONS

Can you recount the day you gave your heart to Jesus?

Were there any habitual sins or a sinful lifestyle that you knew you needed to give up?

Would you say you are as radical with dealing with sinful habits today as you were when you first got saved?