I had almost made it. The building was in sight covered in white, fluffy snow. If only I could get up that last hill, but as I increased my speed, my back tires began to spin and soon I was in a ditch just feet from the school. I was so angry. I had made it all the way to Diagonal, but was now stuck just feet from the parking lot. You see, in spring, summer or fall, my car’s just fine. I can drive in rain, thunderstorms or gravel roads with no trouble with the all wheel drive, but not in snow. You see, even though my car claims to have all wheel drive, when it comes to snowy conditions, my car functions as if it were rear wheel drive. I can drive in snow, as long as the road is straight with no hills. As soon as I have to turn a corner, stop or go up a hill, it’s a no-go. I will slide and the only way I can go is reverse.
As a Christian, I am sometimes like my car. You see, I claim to believe that God has saved me from my sin, that Christ took my sin upon the cross and forever reconciled me to God. When life is going well, I am trusting God and laying hold of my identity in Christ but as soon as something goes wrong, or I don’t get something I want; I begin to function, not as a Christian saved by grace, but as an idolater. I have begun to trust in and depend on my desire rather than my identity as a sinner saved by grace. I have put my desire for sleep, respect, or food above my love and worship of God. In essence, I am functioning as an idolater.
Idolatry is not new to the human race. The Israelites struggled continuously with idol worship, rather in the form of a golden calf or the desire for something other than God to rule their hearts and lives. John Calvin says that the “human heart is an idol factory”, meaning that once we get rid of one idol, another one will inevitably take its place in our hearts. Our hearts, like my car, are in need of repair, and the only real repair for any idolatrous heart is to replace it with right worship of God. As Christians, this means we need to confess our idols to God, seek and receive forgiveness and then make a plan to help guide our repentance so that we can rid ourselves of the idols that rule our hearts. It is only God’s amazing love and grace that will heal our hearts of our idols.
