God tells us that He makes all things new.
“And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Revelations 21:5
God, throughout the Bible, brings about the destruction of the idols we create. Those things that stand between us and Him. This is part of renewal. It is a painful part of renewal because often, we don’t realize that we have created idols.
Do any of these sounds familiar?
The idols of comfort.
The idol of popularity.
The idol of sloth.
The idol of self-focus.
The idols of wealth.
There are simply too many to list here. But, when these idols stand between God and us, either He must remove them or we must see them and remove them.
As painful as it is to ferret out and remove your own idols—and this can only be done with God’s help—it is generally more painful when God has to take them out without our help. It is more painful because we often don’t realize what a big part of our lives these idols have become until He brings them down. So, their absence is unsettling and life changing.
The pandemic has certainly revealed idols for many of us. It also has revealed those things that are important and how perhaps we have not put enough focus on them—our faith, our relationship with God, community, family, friends.
This advent season, I plan to reflect on this. What idols are in my life? What stands between me and my relationship with God? What has prevented me from being a good neighbor? What has prevented me from being fully present in all of my relationships? What has stopped me from being the hands and feet of God? What has tarnished my reflection of Him?
The first step is to pray for God to reveal the idols in our lives. We all have them; we often can’t see them. But, God does not want anything to stand between Him and us. If we pray for revelation, He will show them to us.
Once idols are identified, how to do get them out of our lives?
We must pray for assistance and strength
We must turn to our Bibles and bring more scripture—more truth—into our lives. When King Josiah heard the Scriptures, his heart was opened and his eyes saw the truth. His next step was to lay waste to temples, idols, and anything that had been erected that did not honor God.
We must not tolerate the presence of new idols in our lives. We must speak truth about evil in our own lives but also in the lives of our communities. A. W. Tozer stated, “We have learned to live with unholiness and have come to look upon it as the natural and expected thing.” It is not. Christians are called to call out evil and to not let it stand.
We must find more joy in the Lord than we do in our idols. He is pure joy and serving Him is not a duty—it is a privilege. Our joy is in Him.
What is this joy? Pastor Jim Johnston says, “If your soul is satisfied in Christ, you will rejoice in Christ. Take your eyes off Christ, and you’ll lose your joy. Christian joy is a barometer of your spiritual life.
Don’t confuse this unique joy with other upbeat feelings. Genuine Christian joy is not the power of positive thinking. Joy is not a bubbly, optimistic personality. Joy is not being happy because life is going my way. Joy is not walking through life with a naïve, glass-half-full attitude.
Joy is the emotion of salvation. It is the joy of seeing, knowing, loving, and trusting Jesus Christ. We cannot generate this true joy ourselves — it is the product of the Holy Spirit in us. Joy is a glorious gladness and deep delight in the person of Jesus Christ. Such joy cannot be extinguished by the circumstances of life. It is a God-given joy greater and stronger than any trouble that comes into my life.”
Lastly, we need to reflect this joy and truth in our communities. This deep joy is what the world truly seeks. Our lives must point to the Source of our joy!
Yes - “Joy to the World, the Lord Has Come!” Remove the idols in your life, get in touch with this Joy, and reflect it into the communities you serve!