Misplaced Passions
My son, do not let wisdom and understanding out of your sight. ––Proverbs 3:21
A man asked himself a question as he sat on the edge of a bed in a swanky hotel suite, sitting next to and chatting amiably with the naked playmate of the month. He says to himself, How long can this go on? How much can you want? How much can you have?
He eventually arrived at the ultimate question: Can you have too much fun?
God’s man is called to invest his passions in the service of life, not invest his life in the service of his passions. God knows we have a finite amount of energy to devote to something, and He designed that energy to be put toward knowing and loving Him and His love for us. The object you worship hijacks your soul, morphs your characters, and transforms your conduct. In Raymond Chandler’s classic LA noir novel The Long Goodbye, hard-boiled detective Philip Marlowe
says this about his object of worship: “Alcohol is like love. First kiss is magic, the second is intimate, the third is routine. After that, you take the girl’s clothes off.”
Polluting our soul is Satan’s goal. He wants to put sand in your spiritual gas tank. He will try to infect you with desires to increase, indulge, and impress. He will try hard to get you to blend worldly passions into your godliest passions. Satan’s deception is this: Material things are safe to love because they are easy to love—they require nothing, they are soulless. Don’t worship things, or become more concerned with the things you have or don’t have than God and people. Don’t be deceived by your biggest enemy.
Before you take that first sip of whatever “thing” you have in front of you, check the label. Imbibe only in those things that draw you closer to the Father.
Father, I am so vulnerable without you. Thank you for placing your Holy Spirit in me, may I never have a lapse of memory regarding your love for me.