Spiritual Inventory

“Hominis ingenium perpetuam, ut ita loquar, esse idolorum fabricam.”

I figured I haven’t opened up a blog post with a direct quote yet so why not do it? And if I’m going to do it, why not do it in style? The above is latin for:

“the human heart is a perpetual idol factory.”

My main man, John Calvin, wrote those words back in 1576 in his book, Institutes of the Christian Religion. The fact of the matter is that those words are striking yet so eloquent. They are in my opinion, harsh yet hopeful at the same time.

I recently have read through much of the minor prophets with one of my friends and one of the most resounding messages that we have kept coming back to is this:

God is holy and we are not.

God is the only way we sustain our lives, without Him we are nothing.

Recently we went through the book of Hosea and while it is most popularly remembered for the story of Hosea & Gomer, the whole book is about God “buying us back” as Hosea did for his own bride. The only difference is where Hosea paid with money and goods, the Lord paid with His only son.

In chapter 13 of the book, I became like an engine that hadn’t had it’s oil changed in years. I was truly unable to move on from these two verses and it has stuck with me since I read it. They say:

2 And now they sin more and more,

and make for themselves metal images,

idols skillfully made of their silver,

all of them the work of craftsmen.

It is said of them,

“Those who offer human sacrifice kiss calves!”

3 Therefore they shall be like the morning mist or like the dew that goes early away,

like the chaff that swirls from the threshing floor or like smoke from a window.

Hosea 13:2,3 ESV

For me, as I read those verses that day I was instantly brought to a moment of reckoning and just kept reading them over and over again.

The truth is I kept on asking my self the same question:

how many times have I not just had an idol in my life, but moreover, how many times are they skillfully made?

When you dig into this passage a little and read some commentary you’ll find that the prophet was really tugging at the heart issue. As John Calvin writes in his commentary on the chapter:

“In this verse the Prophet amplifies the wickedness of the people, and says, that they had not only in one day cast aside the pure worship of God, and entangled themselves in superstitions; but that they had been obstinate in their own depravity.”

Now I don’t know about you, reader, but as for me — obstinate in my own depravity isn’t exactly the phrase I’m hoping to one would use to describe me.

I’ll never forget all the teachers I ever had throughout junior high and high school in social studies; they all said the same thing — history repeats itself. Whilst the message they were trying to convey made sense, they were leaving out why it makes sense. And this isn’t necessarily their own fault, they just don’t have an understanding of the gospel.

The reason history repeats itself over and over again is because of the fact that we have not evolved from the beginning of time. We are sinners who desperately need a savior. We all want control. We all want our needs met. We all want happiness and joy on our terms.

We have no sense of what truly gives joy. We have no sense of what truly gives peace. We look to the earth for those things over and over again.

My other main man, the Apostle Paul says this in Philippians 3 when he states:

“8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”

Philippians 3:8-11 ESV

Paul had just gone through explaining all of the things he used to have as a part of his old life and how he counts it all now as loss, as a hindrance towards his current state. That is because he has found that his righteousness can only come through the Lord Jesus Christ, same with us. And the truth is, if Paul was there — so are we.

Paul was a man of great stature and position. He was well educated, powerful, and respected. He truly had reason to boast. Yes, he was also a murderer. But the point is that after receiving grace that was so unmerited as opposed to everything else that he had obtained by merit you can see his heart truly in verses 9 & 10; he wishes to be “found in him” and that he “may know him.” I read these verses as romantic imagery. More verse 10 given the fact that throughout the OT, the term “to know” meant for intimate interactions between men and women.

Paul is basically saying: “forget everything I had or could have possibly had – I want nothing more to be found and know Christ in the most deepest, possible, way. It is the only way I may live.” Only the Ben Tubert interpretation might I add.

The reason I belabor that point is to illustrate this, I want to imitate Paul in my every day walk with the Lord, especially in that regard. While I am not some crazy special, super learned, of the great tribe, Christian — I’m redeemed yet I still carry with me quite a bit of idols. And the truth is, I don’t give them up and for that — I’m no different than the people that Hosea prophesied about.

My wife, my children, ministry, money, being a good provider for my wife, being the best dad, cars, watches, seeming like I have it all together, the approval of man; I could keep going on and on but those are just a few. And they aren’t just dingy looking idol statues. As much as I don’t want them to be, they are skillfully crafted.

They look nice because of the fact that I dust them off, I polish the metal and make sure they shine. I actually show them off at times too.

And boy, have I ever missed the boat on what I’m supposed to do with them.

That right there friend, that is what we are meant to be doing to our idols. That’s what the pursuit of holiness looks like from a physical standpoint in life — in my opinion. You see, replace any of the idols I mentioned with whatever you like: porn, boundary issues, integrity issues, television, sports, etc. We are meant to not deal kindly with idols.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism asks this in question one: what is the chief end of man?

Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.

Key phrase: enjoy him forever, not things, not our idols.

The Lord is the only well that doesn’t run dry.

We are meant to live for God, period. And while that may not look perfect and the line we walk out may not be perfectly straight, we are meant to TRUST the LORD that He will keep us on the path set out before us.

How do we do that you ask? We spend time getting to know the one who Knows us.

We understand that God is a good and loving God. Look at how He responded to the people of Hosea’s day.

4 But I am the LORD your God

from the land of Egypt;

you know no God but me,

and besides me there is no savior.

5 It was I who knew you in the wilderness,

in the land of drought;

6 but when they had grazed,1 they became full,

they were filled, and their heart was lifted up;

therefore they forgot me.

7 So I am to them like a lion;

like a leopard I will lurk beside the way.

8 I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs;

I will tear open their breast,

and there I will devour them like a lion,

as a wild beast would rip them open.

Hosea 13:4-8 ESV

Two things strike me through this passage of scripture:

1. The Lord basically says, yeah go ahead and serve your idols, just remember that YOU KNOW NO GOD BUT ME. I am the only one who KNOWS you. Every good thing, every thing that you have been through, every bad thing that you have been through, the reason you got out of it — WAS ONLY ME. And just when you get out of it, you forget to remember that it was only because I did it.

2. The Lord says how He will destroy the people. But what ended up happening? Yes, while some fell away, years and years later He sent His only son to face that full wrath that deserved justice because He knew from the beginning of the earth that there would be no man nor woman who would walk the earth who could ever face it and pay it.

We are in the Lenten season my friends and I have been more challenged than ever through my reading and devotional times to reflect this year and this season on the character of God.

To reflect on the patience of God.

To reflect on the unceasing grace of God.

That He could be so loving to a people who constantly drift and walk away from Him the second that he fixes whatever muck and mire we have entangled ourselves in. Only to see us love him for a second or two and run back to that idol we love so much. He sent His son to be the true and better Hosea, to buy us back once, and for all. That we might receive the crown of life through the love of God the father and His son on the cross at calvary.

I challenge you right now reader, take a spiritual inventory of the things that you are keeping around you and join me in setting the dynamite on them this season as we pursue the one who has never stopped pursuing us. As we surrender our lives to the only one who can rescue us from our own self-inflicted death. As we allow God to burn off everything that is not of Him, and flood our hearts with grace.

All glory be to the Lord Jesus Christ for His magnificent work of salvation and capture of our hearts. May that love overflow and cause us all to abide in his wonderful grace.

God bless you,

BMT.