Idolatry

"Who shapes a god and casts an idol , which can profit him nothing"

Isaiah 44: 10

            So I have a simple question to ask you dear friend. Where is your satisfaction found? Is it in your amazing job? Is it in your wonderful family? It is in your awesome spouse? Is it in the bank sitting in a checking account? Where is your true and deep satisfaction found?

To find true satisfaction is to find it in God. He wants us to find our satisfaction in Him instead of wasting our time and energy on things that cannot satisfy because dear one, when we look to other sources for satisfaction we are guilty of idolatry.   I am not saying we cannot enjoy the things of life and find joy and pleasure in them but when we seek in them our true satisfaction, we have turned that something into a idol.  I love how Isaiah says it.

Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. -Isaiah 55:2

The answer for those who have an inner thirst and hungry need only to follow Isaiah 55:6

            “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near”

I believe that God creates and activates dissatisfaction in every person for a wonderful reason.  I believe that 2 Peter 3:9 holds the answer to this dissatisfaction that every person is plagued with.

“ The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance" 

Beloved, the Lord does not want anyone to perish. He wants everyone to come to repentance but He gave us free will to make the decision of whether we accept His invitation or not; however He did purposely create us with a need that only He can meet. If you have not noticed from other friends around you, one of the most general human experiences is the inability to be completely satisfied. Salvation alone does not completely fill this need and many come to Christ searching for something missing but after they receive His salvation they go elsewhere for satisfaction.  I can testify to that dear one. Christians can be miserably dissatisfied if they accept Christ salvation yet reject the fullness of a daily relationship with Him. He offers us so much more than we typically choose to enjoy. Dear one, please know that discovering dissatisfaction is not a terrible thing but a God thing. It is only a bad thing when we do not allow it to lead us to Christ. He wants His children to find the one source that will truly satisfy our thirst and fulfill our longing hunger in our hearts. We must realize beloved that God desires for us to find genuine satisfaction in Him. Settling for satisfaction with anything else is idolatry. I realize that, that word might seem harsh but beloved, anything we try to put in place where God belongs is a idol. I myself have been guilty of this more then once.  I have placed relationships, and things above where the Lord’s rightful place should have been. True peace and satisfaction in this world comes when we break free of this. Dear one, the void that God created in us for Himself will require attention. Our natural craving is to be filled so the moment that someone or something comes to meet that need we feel an overwhelming temptation to worship it.  Isaiah 44:20 states this so clearly I think. 

“ Such a person feeds on ashes; a deluded heart misleads him; he cannot save himself, or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie? ”

I am speechless reading this verse. How many times have I fed on ashes instead of feasting on the powerful word of God? How many times has my deluded heart mislead me and told me lies? Dear one I could cry right now just thinking about all the things I have tried to hold on to and all the while they were lies.  I finally have seen some of them were idols in my walk with the Lord. Finally I have let Him open my hands and have released the lies of “idols” I was holding on too. I have grasped His hands since then and am walking with Him daily. I urge you brother or sister that whatever you are holding on too, putting before God, and worshiping please release it and find true glory and satisfaction in Him. He is the truth that sets us free.. Open your hands and find satisfaction in Him.

“All of You is more than enough for all of me. For every thirst and every need. You satisfy me with Your love. And all I have in You is more than enough” – Enough by Chris Tomlin