Psalm 18:1-2 - Personal Altars

MEMORY VERSE:

“I love you, Lord; You are my strength.  The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior;  my God is my rock, in whom I find protection.  He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety.”  Psalm 18:1-2 (NLT)

We live in an imperfect world.  (I’m sure this doesn’t come as a hot news flash.)  The world is filled with imperfect people striving to get ahead and worshiping at their own personal altars; whatever those altars might be...

·         Success

·         Ego

·         Entitlement

·         Financial gain

·         Fitness and health

·         Family

·         Church work

The list of personal altars goes on as long (or perhaps longer, if that’s possible) as the Emmy Award show playing on TV this evening.  Admittedly some days you might find me worshiping at some of these altars. 

Not everything we prioritize is bad.  In fact many of our daily activities benefit those around us.  Quite frequently our motivation for performing various activities comes from a desire to help other people.

So why am I coming down on things like financial gain, fitness and health, family, and church work?  Don’t we need to provide for our families?  Shouldn’t we be concerned about our health?  Aren’t we called to do the work of the church?

The answer to all these questions is a resounding, “Yes”!  We are called and should do all these things.  The point I’m getting at is these activities quickly usurp God’s place in our life. 

I’ll give you an example from my own life.  Over the past four years I’ve focused on becoming physically fit.  I joined Curves and work out three times a week.  I started running this summer and run three times a week as well as working out at Curves.

I've made a conscious decision to grow spiritually and develop a closer relationship with God.  I try to read the Bible every morning and spend time in prayer with God every day.

Did you catch the single word in those two paragraphs pointing to my priorities?  I “try” to read the Bible.  Notice I didn’t say I “try” to work out or I “try” to run.  No, those activities I make time for regardless.

What’s wrong with this picture?  Whose altar am I worshiping at?  Can fitness and health protect me?  Can it be my “rock, my fortress, and my saviour”?  Can it be my “place of safety”?  Of course not!  Only God can do these things.

Intellectually I know this.  Yet when I travel and don’t have time to do both my fitness routine and my reading.  Guess what's left out?

This verse reminds me to get my priorities straight.  I’m so glad that God is a God of mercy who loves us in spite of our flaws; a God who gives us a second, third, fourth, and fifth (etc.) chance to get it right.  It motivates me to realign my activities and put God first.

Are your priorities right?  What altar do you worship at?  Share your thoughts be clicking on “comments” below.

“I love you, Lord; You are my strength.  The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior;  my God is my rock, in whom I find protection.  He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety.”  Psalm 18:1-2 (NLT)