Anatomy of a Surrender: Idolatry

"...What fellowship can light have with darkness? ... What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols?  For we are the temple of the living God. ...Let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God." (2 Cor. 6:14, 16, 7:1)

Paul points out the obvious conflict between light and darkness to urge the Corinthians to disassociate from corrupting influences.  The principle applies to our social relationships, but it also applies to the struggles within our hearts.  If light and darkness do not mix within the church, which is the temple of God collectively, they do not mix within ourselves, who as individuals are the building blocks of that temple.  We cannot entertain elements of the Kingdom of light and elements of the kingdom of darkness simultaneously and expect God to bear fruit in us.  He wants purity.

That's a problem for every human being who has ever lived.  We aren't pure.  Long after we've made that landmark decision to follow Jesus, we still have internal struggles with sin and obedience.  The decision was right, but the follow-through proves difficult.  And it's the follow-through that makes the difference between unusual blessing and mediocrity.  We cannot be mature Christians until the initial decision to let Jesus be our Lord actually becomes a way of life.  We cannot make a commitment to light while maintaining our grip on darkness.  We must surrender ourselves.

Nearly every Christian has remnants of darkness that cloud his or her discipleship.  We like to call them character flaws or weaknesses of the flesh.  In reality, they are idols.  They may range from the alarming addictions of temper, lusts, and obsessive greed to the relatively minor flaws of bad diets, time mismanagement, and mild obsessions with hobbies.  Regardless of their severity, they are our battlegrounds.  They are points of conflict between us and our Creator.  They test us on whether we will, or will not, obey.

All Christians have had their struggles with idolatry.  Many of those struggles rage today.  Some of them rage within your heart.  The issue is not whether they are big or little sins; the issue is whether we trust God enough to do what He tells us, even in the small things.  Choosing our will over His, at any level, is idolatry.