James 4.1–3
1 What causes quarrels
and what causes fights among you?
Is it not this, that your passions
are at war within you?
2 You desire and do not have,
so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain,
so you fight and quarrel.
You do not have, because you do not ask.
3 You ask and do not receive,
because you ask wrongly,
to spend it on your passions.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
I imagine I’m with an army platoon perched on a hilltop. In the jungle below me, I know the enemy camp is secretly approaching, but I have no idea where. Suddenly, I see a small column of smoke rising from the jungle. The enemy has made a mistake! They have lit a campfire, revealing their position! I call in an airstrike on those exact coordinates, and the threat has now been taken out.
Worry, fear, sadness,
and depression are smoke
from the fires rising
from the altars of idolatry.
-Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
Hunting down idolatry that causes me to wander from the Gospel can be challenging. My idols are often hidden in the jungle of my heart, and often, like spies, are even camped out in many good things in life. I can easily begin to have fear, worry, or I may want to exert control over my finances, children, relationships, reputation, ministry, or responsibilities. By God’s grace, however, I get glimpses of smoke that reveal the position of the enemy. I consider some of these things that can act as “smoke columns” that can give me an idea of where idolatry may be lying in wait, such as:
Complaining, Fear, Being Offended Easily, Anxiety, Irritable Tone or Speech, Cynicism, Grudges, Entitlement, Feeling Owed, Anger, Lying, Hiding, Isolating, Mocking, Device Addiction, Laziness, Selfishness, Apathy, Jealousy, Bitterness…the list is endless.
What columns of smoke am I seeing in my life? What Gospel truths speak directly to those smoke columns that I can drop as “Gospel bombs” on them to put those fires out?
Thankfully, God is both patient with me and is also more committed to my change than even I am. His great desire is to search for, unearth, and destroy the idols in my heart that are robbing me of joy. We tend to hold on to our idols, even the ones that we know aren’t good. But in His grace, mercy, and love, His Holy Spirit is at work, drawing me into a deeper desire for Christ and lesser desire for my idols.
Read Again and Make it into a Prayer:
James 4.1–3
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Personalize and Read or Pray Aloud:
Psalm 139.1–8, 23-24
1 O Lord, you have
searched me and known me!
2 You know when I sit down
and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path
and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
5 You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.
7 Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee
from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
……………
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
24 And see if there be
any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Pray Aloud:
I pray to You, O Most High,
as the light of the sun comes forth,
May the Name of Christ
arise and be with me, Lord;
You reign forever.
-Antiphonary of Bangor, Ireland, 7th Century
Matthew 6.9–13
9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come, your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Click Here to Have These Devotionals
Sent to Your Phone Daily
(U.S. Residents Only)
