Have you ever thought your heart could have tricked you? Maybe you’ve been carried away by something that appears to be satisfying, but isn’t? Maybe the enticement of a counterfeit attraction, be it a person or a thing you thought would satisfy you.
That’s what happened to Eve in the Garden of Eden. She lusted after and set her heart on something she believed would satisfy her. She was deceived into trading the intimacy she had with God in the Garden for something that she lusted after; power, knowledge, wealth any of these sound familiar?
Haven’t we done the same thing, as if we’ve been in a house of mirrors? We’ve viewed the world through our own distorted wants and lusts and in the end we’ll discover that we’ve traded in something real for what is not.
1 John 2:17 says, “The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.”
It’s obvious that we have trusted in a house of mirrors. Just look at the housing market in this country. We have been on an upward spiral of bigger and better for years, but now the bubble has burst and our lusts have been exposed.
James said, “But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.” (James1:14-14)
It’s jarring to thing about. It’s not nice conversation, rather uncomfortable and unpleasant. Yet, the house of mirrors is being shattered, while we are being challenged to take into account the worthless idols we’ve clung to.
It seems that we forgotten that this was never about us or our stuff anyway? We are just here for a short time and our possessions are on lease. We certainly won’t be taking any of this stuff with us by U-Haul, so why do we cling to worthless idols in the first place? Because we’ve been deceived into thinking these things hold value when they don’t and because we have been more like whores than faithful Brides! Shocking isn’t it, but read the Bible its all in there!
I never thought I was too comfortable until the Lord began leading me out of my own house of mirrors asking me to give up some of my comfort. I was cool with it when He asked me to give a gift to the grocery store clerk, but when my son gave away his expensive computer my attachment to worthless idols began clamoring. And that was just the beginning as the Lord clearly revealed that He wanted it all!
Do we really want to give an account for the ridiculous accumulation of stuff we’ve collected, rather than what will endure eternally? I don’t! I say let the mirrors fall. As much as my flesh squeals, I know that, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” Jim Elliot. I want the incomparable joy of basking in God’s presence and knowing Him now! There really is no contest. I choose God!
