I have often wondered why some Christians can do certain things. Then there are others that can't or won't do those certain things.
Me, I use to cuss like a sailor and a truck driver (as the saying goes) all rolled into one. But once I fully gave my heart to the Lord, he started to work on me. I had a little god in this foul language. So little by little, he worked this out of me. Now if I slip, the first thing I do is apologize to the person who heard it and then confess it to the Lord.
Then there is drinking. I use to go to the bars and drink. Sometimes I drank too much. Then there were the times I drank too much and drove. Then I started to drink less but still wanted to be "cool" and hang with co-workers and friends. Again, I had made social drinking a little god. The Lord would impress on me that being "cool" was not cool at all. My little god tended to get me in trouble or made me drive when I shouldn't. I stopped going to the bars and drinking the my favorite hard liquor. But I noticed that I could not go to sleep in the early 2000's. So I made an excuse and started to have a glass of warm Sake. I just switched one little god for another. It ended up being my choice to give up all drinking. I wanted to be sober minded and I know what alcohol of any kind would do to me.
Am I finished with little gods in my life? I don't think so because that clay is hard. It needs to be softened by the Master Potter. He is the only One that can soften a hard heart. He is the only one that can change my mind.
Do you have any little gods? What excuses do you use? Do you feel the Lord would like to have you remove those little gods? I know He will allow you to do so when you are ready.
My prayer for you and I is that we will be willing to give up those little gods and grow closer to the Lord our God and Savior.
Centering Our Hearts
One of the most important biblical topics is your own heart. Throughout the biblical story, God shows that He is not nearly as interested in your money, time, or service as much as He is your heart.
Why is this important? Jesus taught his disciples that the heart is the center of our lives. Our emotions and our desires flow from the condition of our heart. If God gets access to our heart, then the rest of our lives follow after.
In Matthew 6:21, Jesus says that where our treasure is, there our heart will be also. The things that we treasure in our life reveal where our heart truly is. The things that we think about, spend our money on, and use our energy to attain—that is where our heart is.
But it's not enough to just not let our hearts dwell on those things. Instead, we need to train our hearts to dwell on Jesus. The apostle Paul encourages us to dwell on the things that are of God:
"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right,...