4 Ways To Keep Your Hobbies From Becoming Temporary Idols

"You shall have no other gods before me."

Deuteronomy 5:7

Eight words. When read individually their significance is whittled to nothing. But, when strung together they become the second of the Ten Commandments. A simple command from God. Christians should never, ever, ever, ever, ever place anything or anyone's values above Him. As Christ following men and women, we should be able to obey this command easily. The operative word being should.

We might not worship Buddha, Allah, or the Greek gods and goddesses but we do, even if we fail to realize it, idolize things (and sometimes people) over God. We are not intentionally trying to dishonor God. We won't purposely put Him on the backburner. Inevitably though, we will all have seasons where we worship temporary idols. *gasp*

Oh no she didn't!

Yes, I did. I said it. We all become slaves to temporary idols at some point or other. Hear me out…

How many times have you posted on Facebook "Loving this ________. Totally obsessed!" or "So obsessed with _______!" I know I have. I probably did it last week. We all find things that strike us as uh-may-zing and we're so blown away by their uh-may-zing-ness that we get hooked on it. For example, the first time I ever binge watched Netflix. Nearly an out of body experience. Or how about when we find a new snack at Costco and eat all 62 of them in a week? How many times a day do you scroll Facebook or Pinterest? How many times a week do you skip quiet time but make time to hit golf balls or shoot at the range? Whether we realize it or not, that's idolizing in a simple form.

This lady agrees with me:

"In terms of the danger of making idols out of what we love to do, I think it's helpful to remember that it is not idolatry to love something that you do. What makes an otherwise amoral (neither moral nor immoral) activity idolatrous is when we start to love it more than we love God. When it starts to edge God out of our lives, affections, focus, thoughts, etc. and replace Him with itself, then we have made an idol for ourselves." Beth Hyduke

Sometimes we obsess about bigger things. Instead of binging our new favorite show or consuming all the Girl Scout cookies in two days, we might discover a new hobby; a specific sport/team, projects at home [guilty], shooting guns (recreationally, y'all come on), writing a blog [guilty].

When we're "obsessed" with something, we give it ALL of our attention but usually for a short period of time. However, the excitement eventually fades, the gratification we receive from our hobby gets harder to achieve, and we move on to something else. In the meantime, during those moments of obsession, we place our pleasures ahead of our relationship with God. Ouch.

But you know what, that excitement and gratification we're searching for can be found in Christ! We were designed this way! We all have the desire for something, a void we think needs filling. We were made in His image to crave and long for more God! Pure and simple.

The devil is sneaky. He'll use things he knows we love to keep us from God. He'll give us all the power, skills, and knowhow if it means we will get further from God. Even Jesus was tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1). The Bible warns us of the devil's tactics too.

"Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy thee devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."

1 Peter 5:8

See. Clear as glass.

I'm writing this more for my own reminder than I am to be preachy. Ever since I started writing this blog, I've become slightly obsessed. Several days in a row, I shamefully neglected my duties as a wife and mother and focused all my attention on my blog. My face stuck in my computer and phone way too much, I exerted more energy and effort into my hobby than I did my family and God. I've noticed my mind shifting from "how can I serve God today" or "how can I be of service to others" to "how many site visits did I get yesterday" and "what can my next post be about".

I am not obeying the second commandment. Are you?

We all need to learn how to balance our hobbies and passions with our dedication to the Lord. We need to learn how to remember that God always comes before our hobbies, no matter how exciting and adventurous.

"So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the heart."

Galatians 5:16

"Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ , and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh."

Romans 13:14

I know what you're thinking: God enabled us to do these hobbies and He knows the desires of our hearts so, what's the big deal? Well, you're right, He did infallibly design each and every one of us. He WANTS us to be passionate people. But He wants us to be passionate about Him first! His heart desires us to love Him above all else (i.e. the second commandment).

"Take delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart."

Psalm 37:4

"Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men"

Colossians 3:23

God will honor those of us who remember to take a step back and remember Him first.

So, how do we do that? How do we ignore the itch to do what makes us happy all the time?

Here's what I think…

1. We need to prioritize our time. Each night before you go to bed, think about what all you need to do the next day. Consider this a time budget! Spend a few minutes making a list. Then, rank everything by what's most important to what's least important. By doing this, you'll be able to visualize your priorities. Where does quiet time with God fall on your list?

2. We need to stick to our time budget! When you wake up in the morning, look at your list again so you can remember what you planned the night before. Carry your list with you all day if need be! I for one can't remember much of anything without lists these days! Thanks, kids.

3. Repeat this over and over each day until your focus shifts back to GOD FIRST, ME SECOND. Do this for a couple of weeks and I guarantee you'll notice a difference in how you spend your days. For an extra boost, try to find one way to serve someone else every day! Whether it be big of small, can you fit it in your day to show Christ-like love to someone else? That will definitely get you closer to God!

4. Think of ways you can bring GLORY to God through your hobbies and passions. How can you incorporate your relationship with Christ with your passions? If you can find a way to intertwine the two, your idolatry will turn to servitude. You'll grow closer to God in the process and bring glory to Him. Double whammy!

At the end of the day all that matters is our love for God. Our hobbies will come and go, our favorite this and that’s will change, but our relationship with God will always be there. Just as we invest our time into our hobbies, perfecting our game, we must invest our hearts in the Lord to perfect our souls.

"For you should love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind and all your strength."

Mark 12:30

I challenge anyone reading this to try and spend 20 minutes every day with God instead of your favorite recreational activity. I'll do it with you, starting today!

What are you going to sacrifice? Leave me a comment, send me an email, or find me on social media (unless it's during your 20 minutes!) and let me know how I can pray for you this week!

Blessings,

Anna

#God #prayer #balancinglife #idolatry