Daily Devotion for March 13th

Who, Me?
Read 1 Samuel 7:1-13
Samuel said, "If you are returning to the Lord with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve him only."
-1 Samuel 7:3 (NIV)
THEN I thought about how I'd rededicated my life to the Lord after years of wandering. My initial joy of discovery was soon tempered with the reality of living my life for God. Desiring to grow in my love for God, I prayed daily and read and memorized verses from scripture - but a close relationship with God eluded me. Too frequently I transgressed, a slave to the world. I certainly don't have any foreign gods and Ashtoreths! I thought. Yet early one morning I felt compelled to keep reading this verse. No idols are in my home, I told myself.
Now, after pondering this verse over and over, the tightly sealed door of understanding swung open. I can't remove myself from the world, but I can remove the world from me. My "foreign gods" were material possessions, desire for recognition, books, music, television, movies, and idleness. All these and my preoccupation and time with them were eroding my growing relationship with God.
"Rid yourselves," the prophet said. So I did just that. My material possessions and my time now belong to God. I am selective about what I read and view and how I spend my free time. Do I still sin? Yes, but I am no longer a slave to sin; my love for and relationship with God continue to grow daily.
Dori Clark (Oregon, USA)

Lord, help us to recognize and rid ourselves of the idols in our lives. Amen.

Thought for the Day
What are the idols in my life?