When Good Desires Become Idols, Part 1 - Treasures of Faith - Week 5 Day 5

TODAY'S TREASURE

Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them. 

Jonah 2:8

Transcript

When Good Desires Become Idols

Chuck and Sharon Betters

Today’s Treasure

Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them. 

Jonah 2:8

Some idols wear shiny, obvious disguises: wealth, fame, pleasure. But others slip quietly into our hearts, cloaked in goodness. A child’s salvation. A spouse’s healing. A longing for marriage or a ministry opportunity. These are good desires—but when they become ultimate desires, we risk turning them into idols. 

Remember Denise? Denise’s journey with her husband, Paul, is a vivid reminder of this spiritual trap. She longed for Paul to know Jesus—not for selfish reasons, but because she knew eternal life was at stake. Her desire was right and holy. Yet, over time, it became consuming. She believed that if Paul came to Christ, her life would finally feel complete. Her prayers turned to pleading, then to pressure. She lost sight of what it meant to trust God's timing. Her husband’s salvation became the measuring stick of her faith—and her joy.

This is the subtle danger of turning good things into bad things. When we fixate on a specific outcome—even one that aligns with God’s Word—we risk placing our hope in the outcome rather than in the One who holds it. Jonah 2:8 warns us that clinging to idols—any idols—leads us away from the experience of God’s love. Not because God withdraws His love, but because our obsession clouds our vision of it.

We see this principle in the life of Isaac. His love for Esau blinded him to God's declared will. Even after God had revealed that Jacob was the chosen son, Isaac clung to his personal preferences and tried to give the blessing to Esau. In doing so, he nearly stood in the way of God's redemptive plan. Only when he trembled—literally—under the weight of God’s sovereignty did he finally surrender.

Isaac and Rebekah turned good desires into idols. As we saw in yesterday’s devotional, Isaac’s heart, not unlike his home, was divided. He attempted to serve two masters. On the one hand, his cultural context demanded that Esau receive the patriarchal blessing and inheritance. On the other hand, God could not have been clearer: the blessing was to go to Jacob. Esau was a son out of control, displeasing to God, and an embarrassment to the moral and spiritual values of his family and their God. Blinded by his pride in Esau’s toughness and hunting abilities, Isaac was unaware that he and his family were headed for a time of great sadness and a crisis that would sorely test them all.

The birthright, so despised by Esau, involved a threefold patriarchal blessing and accompanying responsibilities. The recipient of the birthright was entitled to two material rewards—a double portion of his father’s possessions and control over all business and family matters. The firstborn was also destined to bear a third responsibility, one that makes Isaac’s story so pivotal in redemptive history. The oldest son was to care for the spiritual welfare of the clan, to transmit and teach all of God’s covenant promises to the next generation. Esau, by marrying Canaanite women and carelessly trading away his birthright, had clearly indicated his disdain for the God of his parents.

Believing he was near death, Isaac told Esau to prepare a special meal for him, after which he would bestow the patriarchal blessing on him. Rebekah overheard Isaac’s instructions, and once Esau had left for the hunt, she put a plan of her own into action, a sneaky and deceitful plan that shows us how much her relationship with Isaac had deteriorated by this point (Genesis 27:5–10). Moreover, she drew her favored son, Jacob, into her scheme as her accomplice. Jacob at first demurred, fearing their lie would be discovered. In response to his fears, Rebekah uttered words that would later return to haunt her: “My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say” (v. 13).

Jacob agreed to the plan and, pretending to be Esau, presented himself before Isaac. The near-blind and somewhat suspicious old man called his son near so that he could touch him. Jacob, prepared for this, offered Isaac his arm—covered with a goatskin to feel like hairy Esau’s own thick arms. Isaac, still uncertain, peering at the young man uneasily through weak and rheumy eyes, asked him point blank, “Are you really my son Esau?” And Jacob replied, “I am.” After eating his meal, Isaac once more called his son near. As Jacob kissed his father, Isaac caught a whiff of the clothing Jacob was wearing, clothing he had “borrowed” from his brother, Esau. Isaac was reassured by the smell of the woods and fields, a smell so reminiscent of Esau. Then, rather than pausing to seek God’s direction, rather than prayerfully and carefully looking into the matter further, Isaac allowed his physical senses to guide him. Convinced that Jacob was indeed his firstborn son, Esau, the aged patriarch bestowed the twofold material part of the patriarchal blessing on Jacob, but he still withheld the more crucial spiritual part of the blessing (vv. 27–29).

In our view, Isaac’s incomplete transfer of the patriarchal blessing was further evidence that he knew of God’s declaration that the older son must serve the younger. We believe that, instead of accepting God’s plan for Jacob to receive the entire blessing, Isaac compromised at this point. He attempted to satisfy the desire of his own heart and honor tradition by giving Esau what was important to him—money. We believe Isaac planned to obey God by later giving to Jacob the spiritual portion of the blessing that linked the son of promise to the covenant God had made with Abraham.

LIFE-GIVING ENCOURAGEMENT

We are all at risk of worshiping outcomes. We hold our dreams so tightly that we forget they were never meant to be the source of our hope. And when those dreams delay—or die—we’re tempted to accuse God of withholding what we 'deserve.' But God, in love, gently pries our fingers open – not to punish us, but to free us.

What are you holding too tightly today? Even good things can become spiritual chains when we demand them on our terms. But the moment we surrender them back to the Giver, we discover the freedom and fullness of living in God’s love—no matter the outcome.  

PRAYER

Father, once more, what are our idols – maybe a good desire that we have made our ultimate desire? May we repent of giving our worship to something or someone other than You.

MORE…

Adapted from Treasures of Faith by Chuck and Sharon Betters with permission from P&R Publishing

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