Offspring

I may not have any physical idols laying around, but my life is marked by too many modern conveniences which have served the same purpose.

At the top of the list is addiction. What else could it be labeled as but a master to which I brought everything?

It’s uncommon to think in terms of servitude and idolatry today. But it’s helpful to reduce our actions down to their core. We all serve something. No?

If nothing else takes that place, don’t we at a minimum resort to serving our desires, our passions, our drives, our interests? Or perhaps it’s something more noble, but no less significant.

Is it our family? Our spouse? Our work? Our hobby? Our church? Our group? Our friends?

There are infinite tentacles reaching for our attention. Without an anchor, we end up serving one and then the other—cycling through a never ending, never satisfying field of demands.

Plenty of good can come from many of these ventures. As many are selfless as are selfish. But the commonality is their ephemeral nature. We will flit from one to another, satisfied for a moments.

The low thrum of desire that continues within us despite ourselves, our accomplishments and our relationships is otherworldly. It cannot be satisfied by the best versions of ourselves.

It’s a waypoint we ignore. It’s the solution we cannot fathom. It’s the ancient wisdom we’ve discarded for our own “truth”.

We are narrow minded, but we don’t have to stay that way. We are given the ability to seek His mind and will.

God, help me lay down the idols that have invaded my life.