“Do you still have some drugs? My girl just left me. I need something to ease the pain.”
Some “medications” we take to relieve stress are illegal. Others are amoral in nature. The question is whether you rely on these things to fill a void only God can fill. If so, you are cheating on God.
If God is most important, he will be our source of relief from stress. He will be our “medication.” And his “medication” never needs a refill.
#6: What have you sacrificed most for?
Who or what receives the largest majority of your time, money, energy and resources? Here’s what I found. If God is not the one thing you sacrifice most for, you will sacrifice God when your “one thing” is threatened. Your ultimate heart’s desire is the one thing you sacrifice most for.
What is an idol? In high school, I devoted hours every day to football. I wanted to play in the NFL. Seriously. Football received the largest majority of my time, money, energy and resources. And I would do anything to prevent my dream from slipping away.
I skipped church on Sunday to practice. I neglected time alone with God to work out. I participated in immoral and illegal activities because I thought the activities would move me closer to my goal. Toxic stuff, right?
I am now in full-time ministry, but the same principle is in play. In Christian circles, people don’t necessarily participate in immoral activities (some do, of course, but this isn’t the norm). But many Christians are cheating on God every day. They refuse to accept a new truth about God because it goes against what they preached for 30 years. Even if the new truth leads them to deeper intimacy with God.
If you sacrifice more for status, fame and knowledge than you do for an intimate relationship with God, you will do anything to protect the status, fame and knowledge … including an intimate relationship with God.
What have you sacrificed most for?
#7: Where do you spend your time and money?
Time is the most valuable resource on earth. It can’t be renewed or recycled. It is not for sale. So, it would make sense to look at your most valuable resource to determine your heart’s greatest desire.
Money is similar to time. So similar that metaphors for currency are often used to describe time. And there are many Bible verses about money.
“Time is money. Invest your time well. Don’t waste my time.”
Money and time are intertwined because they are both extremely valuable. They are also extremely dangerous. And they compete for our allegiance to God daily, hourly. Mark Twain says it this way,
Some men worship rank, some worship heroes, some worship power, some worship God, and over these ideals they dispute and cannot unite—but they all worship money.
