Gifts or Gods?
Yesterday I asked you what you would see if you looked into the Mirror of Erised – which would reveal your deepest desire.
Perhaps for you, money and riches are your deepest desires. This is why these treasure stories have such a place in our hearts, because honestly, the thought of coming into millions excites each of us. What would you do with unending supplies of money? Doesn’t your heart flutter just thinking of it?
So many of us believe that if we can just have a little bit more we’ll be fine! And it never ends. We believe if we aren’t financially secure we have nothing. Our security and comfort is our deepest treasure. We will do anything for God as long as we don’t have to sacrifice that.
Priorities Shape Life
Or perhaps your possessions are your greatest treasures. Your car, your phone, your musical instruments (maybe that’s just me!) Maybe it’s your house? I remember Shereen and I spent our first few years of marriage in homes made of prefab walls. We used to jokingly say that one day we would be in a house with real walls! Then one day, we made it to a house with real walls. And suddenly we found ourselves saying one day we’ll be in a bigger house. And guess what – we are in a bigger house now. But there’s a part of us that could look at even bigger places and say maybe one day we’ll be there! The pull towards fancier possessions is a real one.
Maybe for you, pleasure is your greatest joy in life. Maybe leisure time, or thrills and highs are what you seek most fervently in life.
Or maybe it’s power and reputation – you want success more than anything else, be it in your education, your business, your physical appearance. If people could see you as successful, that would be the greatest thing for you.
Maybe it’s family. I think many of us, looking in the mirror of Erised will see our families in some way.
What you treasure most determines how you live – if you treasure one of these things we’ve been talking about, you’ll shape your life in a way that will help you to get it.
Gifts, Not Gods
I want to say to you: most of these are good gifts. And it’s good to desire them. Most of them are important parts of our lives:
- We need money and possessions to get by in life. So, aim for it.
- Pleasure is a good thing. Aim for it, in the right ways.
- Success drives us and gives us purpose. Aim for it. Work at it.
- Family is an amazing blessing. Enjoy it. Love it.
They’re all good gifts, but hear me… they are all terrible gods.
If we put these things in the highest place in our lives, we’re in for disappointment. Because here’s the thing: even if we reach these things, and get them for ourselves they never satisfy us fully.
Friends, real treasure is found not in gifts but in the Giver! Real treasure is found in the kingdom of God: finding your joy in relationship with God above all the rest.
Be careful of your priorities. Don’t let the gifts of God become gods themselves. Every blessing you have is a gift from God: enjoy them, but keep God Himself as your greatest treasure of all.
