An idol is not always a graven image

An idol is not always a graven image, chiseled from stone or carved from wood. It is often far subtler, something that takes root in the quiet corners of our hearts. It is whatever we look to and say, "If only I had that, then my life would make sense. Then I would know I have worth, then I would feel secure." It could be success, approval, wealth, or love. We chase after these things, believing that once they are in our grasp, the gnawing ache within us will finally be soothed. But these idols, no matter how they glitter in the light of our ambitions, are fragile gods—fickle, fleeting, and ultimately hollow. We trade the deep, abiding fellowship with a thrice holy God, the One who formed our souls and knows their every need, for the brittle promises of the world. And in doing so, we lose sight of the truth: that nothing, nothing in all creation, can give us the peace, the meaning, the worth that is found only in the presence of a Holy God. When we prize anything above Him, we place on that thing a burden it was never meant to bear, and in time, it will crumble, leaving us more broken than before. The ache we seek to fill cannot be satisfied by the temporary; only the eternal can quiet the soul's deepest longings. Yet we continue to chase, blind to the gift of grace, deaf to the call of the One who whispers, "I am enough for you."

Don’t grow familiar with grace.

He has always been enough.