A wholehearted year: replacing

I've been talking about a wholehearted year. If you missed out, start here.

"You shall not have other gods before me"

Exodus 20:3

 I believe in the living God. I don't bow down to statues. I have turned my life over to Jesus. So clearly, I have no other gods, right? Wrong.

It took me years to understand this statement. And it still blows me away how subtle idols can be in my life. I read two books that helped me diagnose and replace my idols, this one and this one. And there are two things I learned from them:

1- Anything that you look for to satisfy a craving in which only God can satisfy is an idol in your life.

2- You cannot just put an idol down. You need to replace it by something else. And the one thing that can fulfill you is God. 

So I know it is ok for me to have a big bowl of ice-cream. Just not ok for me to have it because I am upset with my job. It isn't wrong for me to want a nice house. But it certainly isn't right to think that a nice house will bring me happiness. Whether it is food, things, career or people, nothing is bad in itself. They become unhealthy when they take center stage on my pedestal and dim the light that should shine on Jesus. Light which should shine on Him wholeheartedly. 

A wholehearted year: offering hospitality

I've been talking about a wholehearted year. If you missed out, start here.

Yet another aspect of my life in which the Lord has asked me to sink in with all my heart is offering hospitality. This is such a foreign concept to me because, although I am a big homey person, I tend to want my house to myself. 

Slowly I have been learning that this is not a want to sort of deal, but a have to sort of deal for Christians. And with a little help from a lovely blogger, I even ended up understanding I had a huge misconception about what hospitality is in the first place.

I was in good company when I figured out that my main problem was always having the same excuse: the lack of room to entertain. As if friends and strangers cared about the square footage of my humble abode. 

So this weekend we did something radical. After coming home from church, at around 9pm we started moving furniture around. We got rid of excess and opened up some space, dreaming of a cozy backyard. The result? A huge living room (ok, maybe not that huge) that just happened to be cluttered with stuff. Now it is ready to get cluttered with souls. And we intend on putting it to good use as soon as we can!