Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.
John finishes his epistle with the words, “Dear children, keep yourself from idols” (1 John 5:21).
Author Timothy Keller says your religion, or your idol, is where your mind goes when you have a moment of leisure (Counterfeit Gods: the Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power).
“The things we daydream about most readily and instinctively when nothing else is occupying our thoughts reveal what we live for and serve,” he says. (https://twitter.com/timkellernyc/status/1423228037332615168?lang=en)
I ask, Where does my mind go at leisure? Can I get along without my daily fix of daydreams and Facebook and world news? Is social media my religion?
What do you do for your daily dose of comfort?
If the places we go to in our minds are idols, how can we get rid of them?
I’ve tried killing mine. But daydreams aren’t easily snuffed. In the pain of life, my mind needs a source of comfort. Or distraction.
My friend the fridge is a favorite escape. But my other friend, wisdom, warns against compulsive snacking. I could try drug addiction or work addiction or trashy novels, but my life and God say, “No!”
Keller says idols cannot simply be removed, they must be replaced. In Jesus’ parable, the unclean spirit left the man. But when it returned for another look, it found the house unoccupied, swept clean, and back in order. So it moved in again, bringing seven spirits worse than itself (Mat 12:43-35).
Keep yourself from idols, John says. Drive out the evil desires and dysfunctions in your life. But don’t stop there, or worse will come. Fill the vacancy with a new set of desires and practices.
Let’s pray.
Our father, I like easy pictures of the Christian life. Like “born again”, a simple one-time event that changes my inner orientation. And “filled with the spirit”, a moment in which the evil spirit in me is replaced with your Holy Spirit.
But these spiritual experiences are just beginnings, invitations to new possibilities, the first step on a long journey, the first glimpse of a healthy and holy land where I might settle.
O father, I repent again, sweeping clean my inner house, resolving against unhealthy daydreams, compulsive eating, and spiritual addictions. I invite you to light my inner life, to renew my mind, to guide my relationships, to direct my journey.
Give me grace and discernment to follow Jesus.
Amen.
I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.
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