When Good Things Become Idols
It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God’s promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. — Hebrews 11:17
Have you ever felt like God was asking something of you that you just didn’t want to give up? We all have things that we value in our lives, whether tangible or intangible. Maybe it is success, safety, being loved, your family, being good. While all these things are good, it's very easy to make them the most important thing in our lives. When we make them more important than our relationship with God, they become an idol to us.
Tim Keller says in his book Counterfeit Gods, “What is an idol? It is anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give.” (p. xix)
I have always had an interest in health and healthy living. I have a bachelor’s and master’s degree in community wellness, and I tried as a health coach at Duke University Integrative Medicine. I love reading about health topics and talking about health with others. I have used my knowledge to help me manage chronic autoimmune disease. Then I was diagnosed with cancer in 2022. If I’m honest, I was kind of upset with God because I felt like I had done everything right. Why did this happen to me??
I use the Lectio 365 app in the morning and evening each day. It really helped me through cancer treatment to keep me grounded in God’s word and keep my nervous system regulated. One of the verses that kept coming up in my evening meditations was this:
"My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever." Psalm 73:26
I had a really hard time praying this verse. I didn’t want to accept it. I didn’t want to accept that my health had failed. Then I realized that while being healthy is God-ordained, I had made an idol of my health. I can do my best to provide my body with what it needs to be healthy, but ultimately, I must leave the outcome in God’s hands. This is something I am still working on. Letting go of our idols isn’t easy.
This is like the verse that refers to Abraham at the top of the page. God had blessed Abraham with a miracle child. A son of promise that came long after Abraham’s wife, Sarah, had gone through menopause. He had waited 100 years to have a son. Is it any wonder that his son may have become an idol to him? Someone he had waited so long for and who he loved so dearly? It's not surprising that Abraham probably started putting all his hopes for the future on his only son. So God asked him to be willing to give his son up.
Some time later, God tested Abraham’s faith. “Abraham!” God called. “
Yes,” he replied. “Here I am.”
“Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you...”
When they arrived at the place where God had told him to go, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. Then he tied his son, Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. And Abraham picked up the knife to kill his son as a sacrifice. At that moment the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Yes,” Abraham replied. “Here I am!”
“Don’t lay a hand on the boy!” the angel said. “Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son.” --Genesis 22:1-2, 9-12
God wouldn’t have asked Abraham to give up his son if he had not become EVERYTHING to Abraham. And this wasn’t an unusual or unheard-of thing in the time of Abraham. Many of the gods in his time and area of the world required child sacrifice. Abraham chose to obey God and passed the test. When God saw Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son, God created a way out. He gave Abraham a substitute sacrifice. This pointed forward to Jesus coming to be sacrificed in our place.
Just like Abraham, we need to be willing to give up the things that we hold most dear. If we hold them too tightly, we become enslaved to them. The good things in our life can become idols. Our lives revolve around them. We need to offer them up to God. Tim Keller says, “We have to know, to be assured, that God so loves, cherishes, and delights in us that we can rest our hearts in him for our significance and security and handle anything that happens in life.” (ibid, p. 17)
God saw Abraham’s sacrifice and said, “Now I know you love me, because you didn’t withhold your only son from me.” We can say the same thing to God. “God, I know You love me, because You didn’t withhold Your only Son from me.”
For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. --John 3:16
Reflect
• Is there anything in your life that is taking priority over God? Something that your whole life revolves around, and your happiness depends on it?
• How can you surrender this into the loving hands of God today?
Prayer: Father,
Thank You for loving me. I know I can trust You will all these things that mean so much to me. I know I can trust you with (list the things you are surrendering to God). I know that You loved me so much that You gave Your one and only Son to save me. I know that a God who is willing to do that for me, loves me and will take care of me. Please make me willing to surrender to You. Help me to make You my first priority.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
I'd love to hear your thoughts! How has God been there for you during times of surrender? Share your experience in the comments below.
Tonya, I love this writing. It has caused me to think about things that I hold dear to me and question, “Is this an idol”? Your writing is beautiful and flows nicely. Thank you for this thought provoking piece. Please continue to write as it has blessed me and others.