The Modern-Day Idol Of Materialism

The apostle John, towards the end of his life, wrote a series of short letters to people he cared about. His final words in one of those letters came straight from his father’s heart:

“Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts”

1 John 5:21 (NLT)

The words are simple, but they reflect a powerful truth. We need to watch out for anything that might compete with God for our love, trust, and devotion. Anything that pushes God out of the center of our lives is, whether we realize it or not, an idol.

One of the biggest idols we face is materialism. Materialism isn’t so much about the things we have as it is about what they do for us. When we look to them, rather than to God, for our safety, validation, or comfort, those possessions have usurped the throne of our hearts. We may not say it out loud, but our actions show that we have begun to trust money, things, or status more than we trust God.

Jesus warned, “You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money” (Matthew 6:24, NLT). Idolatry always leads to bondage. It promises security, but instead it fuels anxiety and a restless chase for more. Paul was clear about this in Colossians 3:5, calling greed a form of idolatry. When we believe that more will save us, fulfill us, or make us feel valuable, our hearts are pulled away from God.

But there is a better way. When God is at the center of our hearts, everything else finds its proper place. Instead of gripping things tightly, we can hold them loosely, as blessings from him that he has given us to manage. We become stewards, not owners.

This perspective brings freedom and peace. We don’t depend on what we have for our happiness. So, we don’t get obsessed with accumulating things, getting rich, or improving our status. And we don’t feel like our world is coming to an end if we go through loss.

Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart. Has anything been taking God’s place in your affections? Begin to surrender those areas to him. Practice gratitude for what you already have, and watch how contentment grows. Worship him daily, lifting your eyes off what you lack and onto who he is. His love is enough, and his presence is better than anything you could buy or earn.

You will only find real freedom and lasting joy when Jesus is first. Today, choose to enthrone Jesus in his rightful place in your heart.

Excerpt from "Understanding Spiritual Warfare" devotional by Dr. Mark Jones

The King of Your Heart

“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power,
together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and
high and deep is the love of Christ …”
Ephesians 3:17b-18 (NIV)

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Your heart answers to what it loves. Whatever you make much time for in your life ends up being the king of your life.

Ultimately, you crown what captivates you.

Is Love Himself your King, or have you overthrown Love Himself - only to throw your heart at the feet of cheap lesser loves?

What if Jesus stands before you now, heart bound to yours, eyes searching yours, heart whispering to yours: Am I the King of your heart? What have you crowned with your time, attention, interest and heart even though it can’t raise you to real life in the end? Have you seen what I have done for you - to move you closer to My reviving heart? Has My love moved and changed your heart? Have you listened to all the ways I’ve been wooing you away from that which doesn’t satisfy and back toward divine love, holy wholeness and the fullest life?

These questions beg for a real answer.

He is the One who lived the perfect way you always hoped you would, and now He offers the record of His life to be your life. He’s the One who died the painful way that could have been yours, and He has absorbed all your pain as His own. He’s the One who heals broken hearts, the One who gives sight for every single one of your blind spots. He’s the One who walks on the waves of your every storm, feeds you soul-sustaining bread in the midst of a multitude of troubles, crushes the head of every hissing lie, and raises your dead hopes back to life.

This is your everyday resurrection, your everyday reality, your everything. Don’t miss it.

Jesus is your King, Redeemer, Restorer, Sustainer, Lamb, Lover and Lord - the only One whose passion has ever loved you to death and back, resurrecting to offer you to the safest, realest life. He is life. And He has saved us for Himself.

Don’t miss Him. Pilgrimage into the palace of His presence and bow down.

“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ …” (Ephesians 3:17b-18).

Jesus is the One who gets all of you - all your loyalty and complete allegiance, your whole heart, whole life, whole self - so you get to be whole. The King died to be the King of your heart … the King of your everything.

This changes everything - starting right now.

King of all, You traded heaven for a cross to call our hearts Your home. Forgive us when we crown distractions, fears or ambitions instead of You. Open our eyes to see what You’ve done, stirring us with Your love that heals, calls and makes us whole. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

- Ann Voskamp
(Provided by “Proverbs 31 Ministries”)

Meme: The Author