Three Questions — Leslie Ludy

Examining What Has Become an Idol

Here are some questions to prayerfully ask yourself. Where do I spend the best hours of my day? Where do I turn to for rest, enjoyment, and pleasure? And are there things in my life that I can't imagine giving up?

It's one of the best ways you can tell if something has become an idol in your life. Can you imagine giving it up? Would you be willing, if God asked you to, to give it up? And if you're not, and even the good things in our life can become idols.

When Good Relationships Take First Place

Even if, you know, we're in a relationship, or we're married to somebody, or our family. Those things can become idols if we're putting them above God. Sabina Wormbrat was such an amazing example of that.

She had a husband that she loved, a child she loved, but she was willing to give them up for the sake of Christ. They were not idols in her life. I talked last night about the girl who said, you know, I want to be close to God, but honestly I'm spending more time on Facebook than I am praying and seeking Him.

Investing Our Best Hours in God

Where do you spend the best hours of your day? I mean, do you wait until you're exhausted and then try to have a Bible study? Do you, you know, do you spend all your best energy on things that are not focused on the Kingdom of God?

And what do you go to for rest, enjoyment, and pleasure? Do you go to His presence? Do you realize that a time in His presence, a prayer time, will give you everything that you need? Every bit of refreshment, every bit of joy, every bit of peace, every bit of fulfillment?

The Idols of Entertainment and Comfort

Or is that just sort of a concept that's like, yeah, that sounds nice, but I've got to have this. I've got to have my Starbucks. I've got to have my time with my friends. I've got to have my movies. I've got to have my Facebook time in order to have those things in my life.

Whether Jesus Christ Is Enough

If you, if everything like that were stripped away and you were thrown into a prison cell, would Jesus Christ be enough for you? I remember hearing a story about a man who was thrown into solitary confinement, this was over in China, for like a year of his life.

And he was kept in the dark in a solitary cell with literally no human companionship, no conversation, no light, nothing. They just pushed a plate of food once a day under his door. And when he got out of prison, his eyes were almost blind because he'd been in darkness for so long.

But his face was so radiant and so shiny that people came up to him like, wow, what's happened to you? And other Christians that knew that he had been in solitary confinement said, what was it like? How did you survive that?

And he said, oh, it was like a honeymoon with Jesus. He was like, I would love to do it again. He was so, I was so fulfilled in the presence of God in a year of solitary confinement. And we have to have our Starbucks drinks.

We have to have our computer time. We have to have our movie time. We have to have our TV time. Whatever it is, would we be fulfilled that way like that man was if that were all stripped away? And are we willing to give it up now and not wait until we're thrown into a prison cell in order to have a honeymoon with Jesus?