In the Lord

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Philippians 4:4

Recently, Jon told me that idols are anything that gives us more joy than God. An easier definition to live by (if you are trying to avoid idols) is the one given by dictionary.com: an image of a deity other than God or any person or thing regarded with blind admiration. I guess both these definitions are correct, but it’s easy for me to feel normal/not guilty about idolizing things if it doesn’t look like bowing to a carved image. That is a bad thing. Example: if I consistently went out with friends even if it meant sacrificing much-needed time with God, that would be because I find more joy in hanging out with friends than reading my Bible. It’s not like I’m sinning all over the place while being with my friends or that I have to spend hours every day doing my devotionals, but by wanting to focus my time and thoughts on them instead of God, I’m idolizing my friends.

Sometimes when we sing praise songs about how God is the only thing we need and want, I hesitate because I want so many other things. I don’t think there has ever been a whole worship set where I haven’t thought about something other than praising God for at least a few moments. Jesus is supposed to be my One Desire. I don’t think this means that I can’t think about or want something else, but He should be the only thing that gives me true fulfillment and the only thing I want to give me true fulfillment. In Blue like Jazz by Don Miller, he talks about how loving Jesus is something you know and something you can feel. It is a feeling if you are in love with Jesus.

It is easier to put the Bible as your first favorite book on your facebook profile than to spend more time reading it than the other books on your list. It is easier to put God as your first interest than wanting to spend more time with Him than your hobbies. Oftentimes my pride in wanting God to seem first in my life gets in the way of Him actually being first.

I know that delighting in the Lord doesn’t mean always being super excited and jumping around everywhere because I’m so happy about knowing Jesus, but it should change how I want to spend my time, money, etc. However, I have found that I can feel tangibly peaceful and even happy after something bad happens if I give it over to God. We act differently if God is the only thing that truly fulfills us.