Reordering Our Loves

A man on a beach decided to quench his thirst by sipping on seawater. The more he drank, the thirstier he got. Before long, his friend found him more dehydrated than before, suffering the effects of his foolish act.

We know that drinking salty seawater does not quench thirst. But we may unknowingly fall into the same trap in our walk with Christ – sipping on idols like relationships, career, money, human approval, sex and more, thinking they satisfy. In the end, we are left thirstier, more lost and disenchanted than ever.

Despite God’s mighty acts of delivering the Israelites and His faithfulness, they chose to pledge their allegiance to false gods like Baal and Molech. They built high places to worship Baal and even participated in the detestable practice of sacrificing their children to Molech. They provoked God by replacing Him as the centre of their worship with worthless idols, fashioned out of human hands. They ignored the covenant they made with God, rejected His persistent attempts to instruct them and continued in their evil ways.

Our idols do not take the form of physical structures like golden calves or carved statues. The idols of our hearts are more subtle and more perilous. We may not even realise they have become idols. Whatever we love, treasure, desire or find our deepest satisfaction in, more than God, can become an idol. The blessings that God has given to us, like our spouse, children, fruitful ministry, successful career, material wealth, can potentially be an idol when we mistakenly believe that these can satisfy our deepest longings and bring us ultimate enjoyment, apart from God.

Saint Augustine of Hippo once prayed, “You (God) have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” Indeed, when the good things in our lives displace our primary love for God, we become like the man who attempted to quench his thirst by drinking seawater. We are never satisfied. We become restless. Most importantly, we have forgotten our first love, just like the Israelites did.

Have you replaced God as the centre of your worship with someone or something else? Have you given your deepest affections and put your greatest trust in anything else other than God Himself? As you prayerfully ponder on the above, take time to reorder your loves, committing to make God the only god you worship.

"God, You have made us for Yourself and our heart is restless until it rests in You. Help me find rest in You, as You take the only prominent place in my heart."