Who are you serving?

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. “  Matthew 6:24 AND Luke 16:13

This verse, written twice in the New Testament really hit home this month. Have you ever sat down and asked the Lord to show you any hidden sin or where idols have crept up? In doing this you are asking the Lord to show more than you would like to see or more than you would like to “admit” that you are dealing with. Or maybe that is just me. J  Well I had that exact conversation with the Lord at the beginning of April and I can honestly say this past month has been one of the hardest yet most spiritually and relationally rewarding times of my walk with the Lord. MANY things were shown to me but one thing that the Lord revealed to me was my SEVERE devotion to body image and working out. Even as I type this out, I can feel my insides cringe and my “flesh” trying to fight back. It has been a DAILY battle of dying to myself and really letting the Lord rule in this area of my life. How many of you are like me and try to justify your need to look good or put so much effort into your appearance? Here comes to honesty part J ….. I would tell myself that I needed to work out for a certain amount of time and that I needed to put that much stock into my physical body because I was honoring the Lord. I mean after all, my health and physical body were something given to me and I needed to honor the Lord in taking care of them. BUT never once did I stop and think that I was using this as a substitute for my time with the Lord. It seemed that my days were “too busy” to really sit down and have a deep conversation with the Lord and really dive into his Word but I sure was able to carve out for an hour to “relax” or have “alone time” and go work out. I would also find my mind wandering to my work outs or calories burned throughout the day but never once did I really focus on how much time I was pondering this and not even giving a second thought to the majesty of the Lord or his greatness. There were even days that I would have to miss a work out I would get frustrated and start to work on a plan to squeeze in an extra work out or a harder workout for the next day.  Now I don’t want you to hear me say that health and fitness and honoring the Lord through taking care of our bodies are not worthy, God given things.  Each of those has its place.  Stop and think though, where is that place? Is it the first thing you think of when you wake up? Is it the dominating thought throughout the day? Can it determine your mood or attitude throughout the day? If the answer to any of these is yes, the issue is no longer honoring the Lord but one of idols and replacing the Lord as ruler of your life with something that is momentary and fleeting. When you get frustrated because you are not able to work out or when you don’t like the way you look and you end up mulling over it all day, it has gone from an honorable act to an idol. Just as it says in Matthew and Luke, we cannot serve two masters. You will love one and hate the other.  We are to love and worship the Creator NOT the creation. Who do you serve? What do you serve? What controls you? My friend, you are not alone in this struggle. Rejoice for we have a mighty God who wants you, longs for you and has created us to worship him. Stop today and ask him to reveal your heart and any idols you have erected. Prepare for His answer and begin to lay down your idols. Just like anything worth doing, it will not be easy but I can promise you IT IS WORTH IT! J

In HIM,

LOLLIE B