Let Go of Idols

1996

How is it that you know the good, perfect and pleasing will of God? You “stop conforming to the patterns of the world and offer your body as a living sacrifice and are therefore transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you will know the good, perfect and pleasing will of God.” (Rom. 12:1-2)

The point is that in order to be one with Christ, in union with Him, it requires that we stop grabbing hold of the things of the world and that we listen. In so doing, we are transformed. That word is passive in its nature. We’re transformed by beholding Him. We’re transformed by offering our bodies as a living sacrifice and not conforming to looking like they look, acting like they act, talking like they talk and valuing what they value. If we value a stereo the way they value a stereo we’re not going to be able to hear the good, perfect and pleasing will of God. If we value an automobile the way they value an automobile, we’ll not be able to hear God. If we value the way we look the way they value the way they look we’ll not be able to hear God. We will not know the good, perfect and pleasing will of God.

We will rob ourselves of the ability to be in union with Him, to be one with Him, as we grab ahold of the other idols of this world. We learn to rest and to look on Him when the appetites of the flesh bang against us, when the opinions of man bang against us in the flesh, when the possibility of our world being crumbled by hatred of men or by failures in ourselves. When any of those things bang against us and war against us, if we’ll find our life and our hope in Him, there will be peace, there will be truth, there will be victory, and there will be maturity and growth. He’ll work everything for the good if you’ll love Him and if you’ll stay close to His purposes.

If you’ll hold on to Him through anything, even through your own failure, He’ll draw you up into Himself and He’ll turn everything the enemy ever meant for your harm into your good. He’ll make your weaknesses in the past, your strengths in the future. He’ll make the very thing that satan attempted to destroy you with, the very thing that you destroy satan with by helping other people in the world around you. You’ll be drawing other people up into the faith. You’ll be sensitive to the things that other people would never see and you’ll be serving God in those areas.

If He’ll be your hope, your rock, your fortress, your high tower, your truth, your way, your bread, your door, your life, your light. Let Him be those things to you in a moment of your failure or your temptation or the whole world caving in around you. Let Him be your hope and your rock and your fortress and your bread. Let Him be those things to you, and find your fulfillment in Him. He’s your righteousness. He’s your revelation. He IS your salvation--it is in no jeopardy. He will be those things to you and you’ll hold on to those things and believe those things with all your heart because He promised and He’s the “Yes” and the “Amen” and He holds the keys to death and hell. If you’ll hold on to that, nothing can touch you. Unmovable. Steadfast. Nothing can touch you. Death, Where is your victory? Where is your sting? Can you see it? Can you get a glimpse of it?