<\/p>\n
\u201cJesus said to him, \u2018If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.\u2019 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions\u201d (Matthew 19:21,22).<\/p>\n
GOD ALONE IS TO BE WORSHIPED, AND WE MUST MAKE SURE THAT NOTHING ELSE TAKES HIS PLACE WITHIN OUR HEARTS. Sur\u00adrounded with so many things that attract our devotion, it is not easy to love God with a pure, wholehearted devotion. But this is the very thing we must learn to do.<\/p>\n
Even Abraham, the very father of the faithful, had to be taught to surrender his heart completely to God. As Isaac, the beloved son of Abraham\u2019s old age, began to mature, God saw that Abraham\u2019s attachment to Isaac was growing deeper by the day. Abraham needed to be tested. He needed to be taught that, if necessary, he could do without . . . yes, even Isaac, the dearest blessing he\u2019d ever received from God. \u201cTake now your son,\u201d God said, \u201cyour only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering\u201d (Genesis 22:2). Though his hand was stayed at the last moment from actually taking Isaac\u2019s life, the agony through which Abraham had passed to get to that point had taught him that none of God\u2019s gifts must ever be allowed to occupy the place in our hearts reserved for the Giver alone. Whatever we hold on to besides God must be held loosely.<\/p>\n
As our Creator, God is unique. We have a need for Him unlike our need for any other thing that exists. He is the only being we have to have, the only thing we can\u2019t do without. We are to be inseparably devoted to Him alone; He is to be our only real \u201cpossession.\u201d All other things must be loved with a love we can let go of, and if our attachment to anything other than God is so strong that we can\u2019t let go of it, then that thing, whatever it is, has become an idol to us. Yet God loves us too much to leave us where we are. The trials and tribulations that break our hearts are often the providence through which God is teaching us that He is, in fact, the only One we can\u2019t do without. Although painful, this is the best thing that can happen to us.<\/p>\n
The dearest idol I have known,
Whate\u2019er that idol be,
Help me to tear it from thy throne,
And worship only thee.
(William Cowper)<\/p>\n
Gary Henry \u2013 WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com<\/p>\n