Daddy was a firefighter. During his career, he earned his arson certification, which made him a certified police officer as well. So I guess you could say he was a hero times two. Add in his days in the army, and well, I think Dad qualified as a full-blown superhero.
That said, I didn’t really think he was a superhero when he’d leave his badge and gun on, when boys came to pick me up for dates. He did it anyway. And somehow in spite of it all, I managed to keep my fair share of boyfriends. If my memory serves me correctly, I got all googly-eyed over several different ones. My heart would beat faster than usual, and I’d walk around on cloud nine, thinking about nothing but this boy or that boy.
But Daddy always reminded me that no boy was more important than God. He knew that anything we think about more than God qualifies as an idol, in God’s eyes. And when we have idols—things we think about and care about more than we think or care about God—we forfeit God’s blessings on our lives.
Let’s look at the next verse Daddy wrote in the cover of his Bible:
“Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs,” Jonah 2:8.
Ouch.
If an idol is anything I think about or care about more than God, I have to admit I’ve had more than my fair share. All too often, my thoughts are consumed with housework or bills, or dreams of fame or fortune, or trying to reach my ideal weight . . . These thoughts crowd my mind and push out time I should spend thinking about my beautiful heavenly Father.
You see, God wants to be, in our minds, just like those teenage boyfriends. Only way better. He wants us to be so absorbed in Him that we can’t stop thinking about Him. He wants us to walk around moon-eyed, amazed at how much He loves us, consumed with how wonderful He is.
When we are consumed with anything else, it’s an idol.
Yep.
And when we allow other things to control our thoughts, we forfeit the grace that could be ours.
Let’s consider one definition of grace: good things that we haven’t earned or deserved.
So if we forfeit grace, we give up all sorts of good things, that we haven’t earned and don’t deserve, poured out on our lives.
Bummer.
But when we cast all those worthless thoughts, or idols, aside and allow ourselves to be consumed with our holy, beautiful, amazing, wonderful God, we clear the path for God’s unlimited grace to be poured into our lives.
Wow. I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling my heart beat a little faster already.
Dear Father, Forgive me for thinking about other things more than I think about You. I love You. Help me to fall in love with You even more. Amen
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