Where is your happy place? What do you do when you have some me-time? Answers to these questions reveal a lot about who you are and what you value most. They also can reveal your secret idols.

It’s good to have a place where we can relax and put our hair down. But sometimes our heart leads us astray and we create altars for our secret idols and visit them much more than we should.

For where your treasure is, there your heart [your wishes, your desires; that on which your life centers] will be also. (Matthew 6:21, AMP,*)

Your secret idols

What is the center of your life? Is it your flatscreen TV or is it Jesus? Or maybe it’s something noble like charity or your family. But if it takes the place of Jesus, it’s an idol nonetheless. It’s time to unveil your secret idols.

“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one [the only God]! ⁵You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind and with all your soul and with all your strength [your entire being]. (Deut. 6:4-5, AMP,*)

Truly, we need to be aware of where our treasure is. And if it’s not Jesus, we have a lot of praying to do. Because we can’t force change ourselves (or we can but it won’t last very long). Instead, we need to pray ourselves back to Jesus.

…are defeated by Jesus

Only Jesus can ignite an eternal spark in our hearts. But he does it so well when we invite him to do so. Jesus can create a more blessed happy place for us. He can show us what a truly rejuvenating me-time could look like.

So let’s dump our secret idols at the foot of the cross and ask Jesus to lead us into the presence of our Heavenly Father. That’s the ultimate happy place for all of us. Because it is unique for each of us. God knows best what we need. We just need to show up. Everything is ready.

Gracious God,
Forgive us for worshiping secret idols.
It’s you who we want yet we let our desires lead us astray.
Create a happy place for us in your presence.
Defeat our secret idols, Jesus.
Keep us close to your heart.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen

Q4U: What are your idols? How do you keep Jesus number one in your life?

Be blessed, my fellow pilgrim, as you surrender to Jesus daily.

*[As you might have noticed, I enjoy reading the Bible in different translations and love comparing them. I have started linking the Bible verses toBiblegateway.com so you can easily read (and compare) them in the different versions I’ve used while preparing each post.].

Photo by John Tuesday on Unsplash. Linking up today with Dance with Jesus, Five-minute Friday, Worth Beyond Rubies.