Reflection
Lent begins soon. Most of us will quietly let go of sugar or wine, yet the Bible invites us into a deeper, more daunting sacrifice. Across every age, God has asked His children to surrender their false idols: the golden calves, the influencers who coax us into vanity, and the hoard of riches we use to shield our hearts. We already see the result of this pursuit—the empty, second-rate happiness of a life that is over-comforted but spiritually hollow.
Like Jeroboam, today’s world is a creator of idols. How easily we buy into them, to love objects with no spiritual breath—social media counts, designer water bottles, and exclusive memberships. We fill storage units with things we never use, while the “real happiness boat” drifts further away.
Let’s reflect on those who pay for our worship of comfort. What do the people we exploit get to enjoy? It is no wonder that those living without the weight of greed cling so fast to God’s will. They know the grace that lives within both joy and suffering.
God doesn’t want to be one of our treasures; He wants to be our only treasure. His path may seem arduous at first, but nothing else brings that quiet, absolute fullness of life “on earth as it is in heaven.”
This Lent, let us look at what is in front of us and finally choose the real thing.
