itsawonderfilledlife

When we think about sin, what does our mind conjure?

For me, it’s murder, abuses, lies, hate.

I am not exactly sure why, but I have been thinking about sin while packing up the belongings of our house. Actually, my thoughts have been about the value of the ‘things’ we choose to pack up to take with us through the next threshold of our life.

Thinking of and giving value to these ‘things’ is like a mirror into my soul.

There are things I have put aside, for the thrift store. Then there are the things I position into a box, concerned only with Tetris-like precision to make the most of every bit of space. Then there are the things I wrap … in paper, in bubble wrap … then I clearly label on five sides of the box FRAGILE and place it somewhere safe … so that nothing can crush it.

Fragile … what is really fragile in my life? What needs to be carefully, meticulously wrapped to prevent harm? What do I value most?

If you love anything in this world more than God, you will crush that object under the weight of your expectations.

Tim Keller

When I view something in life (not just in packing) of more value than God,

where is my focus?
where do my thoughts lite?
who do I hold responsible for the safety of that ‘thing’? person?

These are the most humbling questions to answer, for their answers are found buried in my heart.

When I live valuing something, but more often someone, ahead of God, my value is on them, not Him. My thoughts are concentrated on it/them. And it is me who I hold responsible for the safety of it/them.

This valuing another more than God is, quite simply, the sin of idolatry. I am making an idol of anything or anyone who I value more than God.

I, in all my humanness cannot keep another safe. I am like a moving box filled with my cast iron pans, heavy and awkward. Like those boxes with heavy objects my hovering around and above to keep them ‘safe’ can result in my crushing that fragile treasure.

There is one who is best equipped for such care … and it isn’t me.

Only God has the tender touch and the ability to lift what is fragile to safety.

Our sin of idolatry needs to be looked at closely. We are not loving another if we are not loving sacrificially … and the best way to love sacrificially is to hand that which we hold close, back to the One who loves them more.