Magnificent Obsession

Day 7 of my love feast with God was about getting lost in His exclusive love. Exclusive is defined by Dictionary.com as "shutting out all others from a part or share." God wants an exclusive love relationship with me. He wants me to shut out everyone or everything that distracts me from Him being my first love. God does not like being second. Currently, I am reading through Exodus. Coincidence? Hardly, just God working in my life, showing me He is there. Anyway, Moses is on Mount Sinai and is being given the 10 Commandments by God. Commandment #1- "You shall have no other gods before me." Exodus 20:3 followed by Commandment #2- "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God..." -Exodus 20: 5

Anything can be an idol. It does not have to be a carved image or statue (although I have seen statues displayed in non-traditional doctors offices that I have visited over the last 3 years). An idol is anything that takes the place of God in your life. If you put anything before God it is an idol. God should be number 1 in our lives. He should be the first person we talk to in the morning as we are waking up and the last person we talk to before drift off to sleep at night. 

I have many idols in my life. God has been showing me these idols for months now (see my post Losing Its Allure). He also has provided a way out of these temptations. I thought it would be hard. I thought it would be impossible because I felt like I was losing so much- my books, t.v. shows, magazines, movies- and since that post He has called me to lay down more- secular music, Facebook and all other social media. Instead of feeling depressed, I feel free. I feel calm and light. My relationship to God has grown closer and stronger that I could have ever imagined. Laying down these idols at God's feet has given me more time to worship and spend time with Him. There are so many godly resources out there. I just never had the time to listen. God has been using Revive our Hearts with Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Desiring God with John Piper, and InTouch Ministries with Charles Stanley (to name a few) to teach me more and more about Him. I will never know everything about God, but for the rest of the time He gives me on this earth, that is what I want to be using my time for-filling my mind with the things of God-heeding the call to be holy and set apart. 

Give me one pure and holy passion

Give me one magnificent obsession

Give me one glorious ambition for my life

To know and follow hard after You

To know and follow hard after You

To grow as your disciple in Your truth

This world is empty, pale and poor 

Compared to knowing You, my Lord

Lead me on and I will run after You

Lead me on and I will run after You

-"One Pure and Holy Passion"