"We're often not conscious of the statements we make, but they are more numerous than we think. We aren't aware of them because most are not verbal. They are revelations of the heart, spoken by our choices. As it is often said, actions speak louder than words.
Consider, for example, what we are saying when we have no money for God's ministry but enough to pay the cable bill. Or when we see the starving and wish we could help - and then waste money on soft drinks with no nutritional value. Why does thirty dollars a month to save a child seem like such a bargain? What do our choices say of God? Not much. They say more about our values. They reveal what's in our heart.
God's no enemy of entertainment and taste buds. But He is an enemy of idols, and our choices reveal what they are. We deceive ourselves often - our enormous capacity for doing so came with the Fall. It's amazing how much we can't afford to do for God's Kingdom - the budget is always tight, right? Meanwhile, the vacations we really want to take are usually taken. The meals we want to eat are usually eaten. The make and model we want to drive is usually in our driveway. We more comfortably delay God's gratification than our own.
We need to snap out of our unconsciousness. Many of our idols have become automatic to us. We don't see them as intentional choices that reveal the treasures of our heart. But deep down we know: If we loved God with all our being, if we treasured His Kingdom above all else, He would see more of our treasure given for His use.
Why is this so important? Does God have insufficient funds? Probably not. The Owner of all isn't short of cash when He really wants to accomplish something. He wants more than cash. He wants us to value faith, the currency of this world. More than that, He wants us. He wants our choices to reflect an intense unbridled love. He wants us to honour Him."
Our modern definition of an idol is often a sports star or some famous person. So if we don't value any of these people too much, than we're not committing idolatry. But any time we put anything above God we're committing idolatry. And what we put above God the most is ourselves. Sometimes with the reasoning that "God would want me to be happy", "why else would God have given me money, talents..., other than to enjoy them myself?" We don't voice these thoughts all that much, but we're thinking them. Well, I do anyway.
I'm trying to figure out how I'm to use EVERYthing God has given me to the benefit of God and others. How to glorify God with my talents. To treat every penny, every possession with the reality that it's not 'mine', it's God's.
I own nothing, I can claim nothing.
:)
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