God,
There are so many other so-called gods that call my name, God. So many other idols that want me to worship them, to give them my love. Affluence calls for me. Ambition beckons for me to follow. Health and Beauty, and Vitality want to be the drivers of my life. Success seeks my heart. Desire for Power wants to own me. Productivity tells me it can make me happy. Respectability and Affirmation seduce me. Comfort and Ease call out to come and simply enjoy. Relevance wants my full energy and attention. So many idols.
And yet, even when I let my guard down and let them rush into my heart, there remains an emptiness that demonstrates their impotence.
God, how can I turn away from these counterfeit gods, those that our world has worshipped for millennia, those that were unleashed by the fall in the garden? I choose to turn my attention away from fighting them to nurturing my relationship with you so that these other gods all seem shallow, shells with no real substance. If my heart is filled with your love and presence, what more can I desire? So I set your Son as a sentry for my heart. The lion of Judah, ready to take on all comers. What does my heart have to fear?
Thank you, O God. Amen.