Carving Up the Heart: 2 Views on Trust and Idolatry [Excerpt]
John Ortberg and Thomas Watson — two author/pastors who lived nearly 300 years apart — share complementary views about the sly faces of idolatry. [Excerpt from NIV Voices of Faith Devotional Bible: Voices from the Past and Present.]
Thomas Watson {AD 1620 – 1686}
Thomas Watson |
If God is going to be God to us, we must trust in him … “My eyes are fixed on you, Sovereign Lord; in you I take refuge” (Psalm 141:8). “My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge” (2 Samuel 22:3).
God is the only one in whom we can trust. Every other creature is a false refuge. They are like the Egyptian reed — too weak to support us, but strong enough to wound us (2 Kings 18:21) … Only God is a sufficient foundation to build our trust upon. When we trust him, we make him a God to us; when we do not trust him, we make him an idol.
To trust in God means to rely on his power as a Creator, and on his love as a Father. Trusting in God involves committing our primary treasure — our soul — to him. “Into your hands I commit my spirit” (Psalm 31:5). As the orphan trusts his guardian to care for his inheritance, so we trust God with our souls. When we do, he becomes our God.
