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Principle number 2, WORSHIP GOD ONLY

(Colossians 2:20) “Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules.”
The other day I was driving down the road and a phrase came to me, “The smaller the harder”. The smaller the idol is the harder it is to remove it from your life. It’s a bit funny cause I think that the big stuff, even though they might seem difficult or impossible to remove from your life, pales in comparison to the smaller, less noticeable idols. The small stuff seems to have a greater grip on a person’s life.

Now the world “idol” means little to us today unless it is referencing an infamous archeologist or a popular reality tv singing competition. But idols still exist and mean more to us than we often know or want to admit. We just have redefined them and call them things like hobbies, careers, habits and life-long dreams.

I just turned 40 a few weeks ago and for some reason I seem to be looking at what life has to offer with even more clarity than ever before. Thinking about what used to “jazz” me in the past no longer “jazzes” me and often I am looking at what something will cost me (I am not just talking about money) more in-depth up front. I am looking harder at my habits, my little idols in life. What is in my life that is pulling me away from God? Not just the obvious stuff, but the subtle oh so small stuff that spoil my life from the bottom up.

See I want to be excellent in my walk with Christ and to me nothing else matters. I want my habits to reflect that excellence. Aristotle once said “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit.” So why do I see so many people that profess Christ still undress to the basic principles of this world? As the Apostle Paul stated above, WHY? Why do they still act and walk and talk and commit and make decisions in life as if they still belonged to this world? Why do we worship other gods?

God gave us in the second principal of life that we get to worship Him! We have access to commit, submit and belong to Him through Jesus Christ’s sacrifice! A life that never gets us stuck in a rut. A life we never have to look for an escape hatch or deal with regret. It’s that I want to be excellent in, it’s the 2nd commandment that I want to get right! I want to Worship God ONLY, not my car, not my life goals, not even my wife or kids!

Oh the little idols, the little foxes that spoil my vineyard planted by the Holy Spirit, save me Jesus! Save us oh God from ourselves! What subtle idol is in your life that is messing you up more than you want to admit?