by Scotty Smith
Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts. … I will do this to recapture the hearts of the people of Israel.
Ezekiel 14:3, 5 NIV

God’s word through Ezekiel was, “I will do this.”
Don’t you wish that, at the very moment we were justified by grace alone through faith alone, idolatry were no longer an issue? Our great hope is that we will not always be idolaters. One day we will be as lovely and as loving as Jesus, because God does not lie and He will bring His covenant to completion. So we can relax and go under the surgery of the One committed to our freedom, the One who said, “I will do this.”
Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:14, “Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.” John wrote, “Dear children, keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21 NIV). “Dear children.” “My beloved.” This is how both Paul and John exhort us to fight idolatry: we are beloved children whom God has promised to liberate. It’s this relationship that enables us to be honest about the fact that we give our hearts and our energies to things that are not God. Only those who know themselves to be fully and eternally accepted in Jesus have the motivation and moxie to do this hard—and heart—work.
Here is the heart work God has done in my life. Several devastating events intersected with my sinful nature and produced a whole pantheon of false gods. The first of the two most formative events was that I was sexually molested when I was an eight-year-old boy. Honestly, it wasn’t until about nine years ago that I gained an awareness of how devastating and shaming that was for me. And even though I knew Jesus was my righteousness and that He took my guilt, I never knew that He took my shame, too.
The second part of my story is that my mother was killed in a car wreck when I was eleven. One hour after I learned of my mother’s death, my father arrived at the home of the people who were caring for my brother and me. The door opened and he asked, “Boys, do you know what has happened?” My brother and I answered yes. With that he walked right by us, and my mom’s name was not mentioned for the next thirty-nine years. In many ways, the death of my mom really represents a dark vortex, an intersection where my sinful nature and these profound wounds came into focus for me. Out of this deep pain came idolatries that I have dealt with for years.
It’s only as I have grown in knowing that I was the “beloved,” a “dear child,” that I have been able to have the courage to look at my woundedness and rest in Christ’s welcome of beloved sinners, even those who build idols right in the middle of their pain.

Thought to Remember for Today

It is only as we learn how loved we are that we can face our wounds. It is only when we know that God will free us that we are free to survey the idols that grow in those dark, bruised places. Yes, today I am a free man, and continually becoming freer, all because of the grace of God. I cannot do the hard work of seeking out and destroying my idols … and neither can you do that with yours. This is work Jesus does. He said, “I will do this.” You can trust Him today.

Fitzpatrick, E. (2016). Grace untamed: a 60-day devotional. Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook.