Regarding American Idols

Our guest devotional writer today is Kathy Taylor. Kathy, her husband Tim, and their three daughters live in the Dallas area, and they have been enjoying T Bar M camps for 7 years. Kathy shares her thoughts with us about our “American Idols.”
 
“Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.” 1 John 5:21
 
 “Though they seek God and wish to find Him, for they search busily among His works, but are distracted by what they see, because the things seen are fair.” The Book of Wisdom
 
We are easily distracted by “created things” and lose focus on the “Creator of things” which is really SADD (otherwise known as Spiritual Attention Deficient Disorder). The quote in Wisdom applies to all ages, as we struggle with SADD.    We see the same “disorder” at work in Demas, who left Paul because “he loved this world.” (2 Timothy 4:10)
 
With the start of another American Idol season, I am reminded of all of the “idols” we let into our lives: TV shows, internet surfing, digital games, brand name clothing, sports, smart-phones and Facebook, to name a few. Many of these things are good, but they can become idols if we abuse our time and attention to them, leaving little or no time for God.   Instead of SADD we should strive to be GLAD (God-Loving And Detached). Here are two keys to being GLAD.

1. To be more God-Loving, as those who love God first, we should be spending time with the Creator. Most of us think we need to have a special quiet time to do this, but as a mother, I know we will always have interruptions and distractions. Loving God is as simple as a constant conversation throughout the day. Pray as you can, don’t wait to pray as you’d like to.
2. To be more “Detached”, we should reevaluate how much time we spend with created things. All of these “American Idols” compete for our attention. We can train our mind to pay more attention to God by placing reminders around our home, car, school and work. Pictures and symbols or even an alarm can help bring your thoughts back to an awareness of God’s presence. Remember, this is not our permanent home; our citizenship is in heaven. We shouldn’t get attached to the created things of this world, but to the Creator.

 
 

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Camper Corner: 
What are the “idols” that you see among your friends at school? What could you do to become more aware of God’s presence in your day?