The other morning as I was driving, I was reminded once again of the fact that the heart is an idol factory. Oh, how mine is... My probing questions: what depresses me? What disappoints me? What angers me? What do I seek for enjoyment? What do I seek comfort from? What am I exalting above the knowledge of God?
“From this we may gather that man’s nature, so to speak, is a perpetual factory of idols.” - John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion
“. . . every one of us is, even from his mother’s womb, expert in inventing idols.” - John Calvin, Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles
Here are some others’ comments on the subject…
Sin isn’t only doing bad things, it is more fundamentally making good things into ultimate things. Sin is building your life and meaning on anything, even a very good thing, more than on God. Whatever we build our life on will drive us and enslave us. Sin is primarily idolatry.
Tim Keller
All those who do not at all times trust God and do not in all their works or sufferings, life and death, trust in His favor, grace and good-will, but seek His favor in other things or in themselves, do not keep this [First] Commandment, and practice real idolatry, even if they were to do the works of all the other Commandments, and in addition had all the prayers, obedience, patience, and chastity of all the saints combined. For the chief work is not present, without which all the others are nothing but mere sham, show and pretense, with nothing back of them... If we doubt or do not believe that God is gracious to us and is pleased with us, or if we presumptuously expect to please Him only through and after our works, then it is all pure deception, outwardly honoring God, but inwardly setting up self as a false [savior]...
Martin Luther from "A Treaties on Good Works"
Because we are, each of us, the image of God, we will worship, in fact we must worship, someone or something, either our original, as we should, or, with the illusion that we are the original or our own ultimate point of reference, ourselves. If the latter, we will give ourselves over, with the full, still efficient resources of our imaging capacities, to some figment, some distorted image, focused on ourselves or on some aspect of the world, ultimately seen as an extension of ourselves. What Calvin observed long ago is no less true today: the human heart, our image-bearing and image-fashioning nature, is an idol factory.
Richard Gaffin from "Speech and the Image of God" in The Pattern of Sound Doctrine
What are a few of my struggles? Pride. Control. Image.
Reflections on this reality brought forth another memory…
A few years ago now, I was confronted with a sin issue in the life of another person dear to me. As I was processing this other person’s struggle, I decided to read through the book of Hosea again. Instead of enlightening me on the issues, I experienced a holy indictment on my own heart, pride and sinfulness. I began to relate to the unfaithfulness of Gomer, of Israel, and then I realized that I was the whore. I was the one exchanging the grace of God for things of this world. I was the prideful one. Oh how I love the book of Ephesians:
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved – and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Eph. 2:4-9 ESV)
I confessed my sin and found myself at the piano. Then the Hosea Song came…
May the lyrics of this song encourage your soul today in remembering God’s grace, redeeming love and mercy towards you…
Hosea Song
Stumbled into the darkness
Once bright light became dim
The God of this universe
She exchanged for her sin
Led astray, wandered away
She left God to play the whore
She forsook the Lord
For the ways of this world
Bent towards rebellion
The more He called she turned away
Pride became a snare for her
A wind had wrapped her in its wings
Pay attention, listen daughter
For the judgment is for you
Repent and seek my face
Return to the Lord
O Daughter of Zion
Lured in the wilderness
By a soft, tender voice
The Valley of Trouble
Shall become a Door of Hope
He has torn us
That He may heal us
Struck us down to bind us up
Redeeming love has come
To set the captives free
But God, being rich mercy
Because of the great love
With which He loved us
Even when we were dead in our trespasses
Made us alive together with Christ
By grace you have been saved
Grace through faith
It is a gift of God
That no one may boast
She has received mercy
The one called ‘No Mercy’
‘Not My People’ shall become His own
Redeeming Love has come
Jesus, God’s own Son
We have received mercy
We have received mercy
