Sandra Heska King

daring to open doors

  • Home
  • About
  • DISCLOSURES
    • Amazon Affiliate
    • Book Reviews
  • Published
  • Contact
  • Blog
    • Commit Poetry
    • Dared

Monday Meditation: My Biggest Idol

May 23, 2011 By Sandra Heska King

It entices me off the path, and I plunge through wet overgrowth for a closer look.

Is this a good flower or a bad flower?

All I know is that it’s pretty.

Demands a close-up.

You can’t always tell the inside by the outside.

And the allure of the pretty can be dangerous.

Solomon found that out.

King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the LORD; he did not follow the LORD completely, as David his father had done. ~2 Kings 11:1-6 (NIV)

The allure of the pretty sliced Solomon’s heart.

Divided it.

And cost him the kingdom.

Maybe he originated the Irish toast, “Here’s to our wives and sweethearts. May they never meet.”

Pastor Bill reminded us yesterday that we are the bride of Christ.

The one who redeemed us and loves us with an everlasting love.

That we enter into a covenant relationship where we are to cleave only to Him.

And yet we have a tendency to run after other lovers.

To follow the allure of the pretty.

To commit spiritual adultery.

To  set up our own idols.

To worship the pretty instead of the Creator of the pretty.

The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being. ~Matthew 6:21 (Message)

And we plunge off the path.

********************

I’ve been grumpy.

I don’t know why.

But I don’t like it.

Except maybe I do.

Maybe I get some reward from it.

I remember complaining about something almost 30 years ago to a pastor friend.

I don’t remember what it was, but I still remember his response.

“You must like it. Otherwise you wouldn’t do it.”

Zing!

Ouch!

I hate that those words still hang in my head.

Because it turns it all back on me.

My sweetest sweetheart.

My biggest idol.

It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him. ~Deuteronomy 13:4 (NIV)

Share this:

  • Email
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

Filed Under: stories and reflections

Comments

  1. Cecilia Marie Pulliam says

    May 23, 2011 at 4:33 pm

    So true. I used to think ill of the Israelites for grumbing before God, chasing after idols and not listening to God. Then one day I realized I did the very same thing.

    The picture is stunning, and your analogy perfect.

    • Sandra says

      May 25, 2011 at 9:10 pm

      And how many times have I run around the same mountain! Sigh.

  2. Amy Sullivan says

    May 23, 2011 at 6:02 pm

    Sandy,
    Well, this one stings doesn’t it? We all do things for a reason, and I wonder what I get out of some of the things I do.

    Thanks for reflecting and being vulnerable.

    • Sandra says

      May 25, 2011 at 9:13 pm

      I think I heard somewhere that a child gets some kind of reward out of bad behavior. So now I have to figure out what I’m really seeking when I’m grumpy.

  3. S. Etole says

    May 23, 2011 at 6:58 pm

    Ouch! is right … and so true.

    • Sandra says

      May 25, 2011 at 9:13 pm

      Sigh . . .

  4. laura says

    May 23, 2011 at 8:57 pm

    Yes, that does hurt the toes a bit! It’s funny that–you can’t tell the inside from looking at the outside. Only One can see all the way inside. Don’t you love how He works in the deepest places?

    • Sandra says

      May 25, 2011 at 9:15 pm

      But oh how sometimes I dislike what He digs up.

  5. Glenda Childers says

    May 23, 2011 at 9:52 pm

    Very thought provoking . . . calling yourself your sweetest sweetheart. Wow . . . I think it is true of me too. I serve a lot of people, but I look well after myself, too.

    fondly,
    Glenda

    • Sandra says

      May 25, 2011 at 9:18 pm

      We do need to take care of ourselves in order to care for others. That’s not serving self. But–and I’m thinking out loud–who are we serving when we run ourselves down serving others? And what is our reward in that? Wheels turning . . .

  6. jasonS says

    May 24, 2011 at 2:29 pm

    I love/hate those simple encounters that have such a lasting and profound impact on us. That’s a good word and so true. Part of us must like it to keep doing it. That’s why we need His character and life formed in us deeper and deeper. Thanks Sandra.

    • Sandra says

      May 25, 2011 at 9:24 pm

      We’ve been studying the neuroscience of the brain in Bible study–as part of our study on Colossians and reprogramming our minds. It appears that God physically designed us to enable us to rewire the our brain pathways so He can transform our thinking and behavior. I’m going to have to blog on it. 🙂

  7. Michelle DeRusha says

    May 25, 2011 at 8:57 pm

    Oh you are speaking right at me with that comment about grumpiness…and liking it. Yes, I think I make complaining my idol more often than I’d like to admit. Gosh I have a lot of idols…never thought of complaining as one before, until you and your pastor friend from 30 years ago brought it to my attention here.

    Thanks for opening my eyes (always, Sandra). And that Columbine blossom is a beauty!

    • Sandra says

      May 25, 2011 at 9:26 pm

      GASP! Really? A columbine? It was just hanging out along a path in our cemetery. I didn’t even know we had columbines in Michigan. I’m so excited!

  8. Bradley J. Moore says

    May 26, 2011 at 5:22 am

    “Ouch!” is right… That is a real zinger. This whole post is.

    I read about Solomon and think, “what a swinger. How could that be the same guy who wrote God’s word? An integral player in the Kingdom?” It does not compute. Imagine that today. Preaching on Sunday and running off to my girl collection on Monday. Weird, weird, weird stuff in the bible! But it got the best of him, and that is the lesson. God had something better for him than that.

    Thanks for your words and reflective heart, Oh Deep See Diver!

  9. Carol J. Garvin says

    May 26, 2011 at 10:38 pm

    Love your photo of the wild columbine (and yes, that’s what it is), and I think you were safe going off the path this time since God allowed you to discover something of beauty that He created.

    When it comes to being grouchy, I don’t think we like being that way so much as our hormones sometimes force it on us. Giving voice to it by complaining, on the other hand, is a voluntary action, and so hard to resist. We surely do need to “hold fast to Him.”

    I love your comment that suggests we need to worship the Creator of the pretty rather than the pretty itself. I don’t know why, but it reminds me of how we’re admonished to hate the sin, not the sinner. 🙂

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Meet Sandra

I’m Sandra, a camera-toting, recovering doer who’s learning to be. still. Read more…

Get updates from the stillness by email

Your personal information is safe and will never be shared.

Archives

Categories

Instagram Inspiration

sandraheskaking

A tale of two iguanas... I did not see the iguana A tale of two iguanas... I did not see the iguana in the background until I downloaded the photos. That, I believe, is the one that got caught in one of the openings in the neighbor's chain link fence. We tried in several (safe) ways to dislodge it without luck and could think of no other option but to leave it. Somehow it apparently dislodged itself. We also believe this is the pair that was getting into another neighbor's garden. We haven't seen either one since the last cold snap, so we are wondering if they survived. 
🌱
Thinking some may have tumbled from their perches last night. Pretty sure it will be raining iguanas tonight since we are under a frost advisory. It's cold. And windy.
Just sing... sing a song... Singing our way into Just sing... sing a song... 

Singing our way into the weekend.
"We don't just see. We learn to see." ~ Russ Ramse "We don't just see. We learn to see." ~ Russ Ramsey in Rembrandt is in the Wind
Now you see me... now you don't. Now you see me... now you don't.
"I started looking and listening. I realized that "I started looking and listening. I realized that work, like life, is shot through with poetry. It was everywhere. I was so taken with what I discovered that I wrote a book about it." @gyoung9751 
🌱
Whether you work in an office, a retail store, a restaurant, or at home... Whether you work on roads or on power lines, or on high buildings...Whether you collect trash or preach sermons, or care for your kiddos. Whether you do art, or weave words, or take photos of a common gallinule AKA moorhen AKA swamp chicken--it's all shot through with poetry.
🌱
So pay attention. Find a poem.
🌱
Read more at https://www.tweetspeakpoetry.com/2023/01/10/its-poetry-at-work-day-2023/
Rising… Rising…
Everyone needs a little balance in life. And maybe Everyone needs a little balance in life. And maybe a beauty routine. And breakfast. Especially breakfast. I wonder if it consists of a few fire ants. I hope so. (Well, not mine. I'm having oatmeal with chia seeds. What are you having this morning?)
🌱
P.S. Happy Friday!
"Though your destination is not yet clear You can "Though your destination is not yet clear You can trust the promise of this opening; Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning That is at one with your life's desire." ~John O'Donohue 
🌿
A blessing for a new beginning in a new year. I'm sure he wrote it especially for me. At least I'm claiming it. Maybe it will speak to you, too.
🌿
Also, I'd really like this skirt --> 
🌿
Read the whole poem--> -->
🌿
Well, bummer... The whole page didn't print. Read it in the comments below.
"What precocity, a bird half the size Of an Anjou "What precocity, a bird half the size
Of an Anjou pear." ~ Stephen Kuusisto in "The Mockingbird on Central" (Find it in The Poets Guide to the Birds edited by Judith Kitchen and Ted Kooser)
🌱
"The morning pages are the primary tool of creative recovery." ~ Julia Cameron in The Artist's Way. 
🌱
I've been in a long creative drought, so I started morning pages--again. This time I've got a bit of an accountability group through @refineretreat's Refinery--which I finally also joined this year. I'll turn 74 this month. I'm not ready to grow old while I age--though everything does seem to take longer while time goes by faster.
🌱
#aweandwonder #tsaweandwonder
Tonight’s walk in the neighborhood. I’m still Tonight’s walk in the neighborhood. I’m still kinda amazed that out of all the places we could have ended up after moving from a place I said I’d never move from), here we are—planted right next to the northern Everglades. Six-plus years, and I still shake my head in wonder.
"So fancy is the world..." ~ Mary Oliver in "This "So fancy is the world..." ~ Mary Oliver in "This World." #aweandwonder #tsaweandwonder
Look, Mom! I can walk on water! #aweandwonder #tsa Look, Mom! I can walk on water! #aweandwonder #tsaweandwonder
Gazing into 2023 like… Let’s take it step by Gazing into 2023 like… 
Let’s take it step by step with hope and courage. Also I hope to be posting again more often.
🎉
Happy New Year!
The morning before the last morning of 2022. 🌴 The morning before the last morning of 2022. 
🌴
71 degrees. Heading to 83. I can live with that.
From the top of Brasstown Bald—the highest point From the top of Brasstown Bald—the highest point in Georgia at 4784 feet.
Winding roads… Winding roads…
Tonight's moon. It's kinda okay. Tonight's moon. It's kinda okay.
Don’t mind me. Just storking by. Don’t mind me. Just storking by.
I’ve gotten several messages asking if things we I’ve gotten several messages asking if things were okay. Yes. I’ve recovered after 3 weeks in Covid jail. Also, I’ve been a bit scarce on social cuz we’ve been finishing up house renovations, and there is SO much that now needs to be cleaned and stuff put away. Also, we’ve had the second oldest grand with us for two weeks. I “should have” at least shared some stories about our adventures, but we’ve relished the time and kept busy. One can’t leave South Florida without a gator encounter, though, right? Tomorrow the two of us fly back to Michigan, and then I will spend a week with my sister where I expect I will be put to work in the chicken house and the gardens and become a glad(iola) roadside proprietor for a day at the Four Star in while she and my BIL attend a family reunion. I’ll also get to see my dad in the nursing home and spend a couple nights with my daughter. D will hold down the fort here. Then maybe by the first of next month, I’ll be able to finish putting things in order, breathe, find some writing space and get back to normal. Whatever that is.
I tossed and turned all night. And then the storm I tossed and turned all night. And then the storm started. I finally got up about 5ish and sat outside to watch. Until a couple mosquitoes found me. Also, the jasmine hadn’t gone to bed yet and smelled heavenly.
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Get the Mug

Embrace the life you have t s poetry mug

Privacy Policy

Full privacy policy is available HERE.

I Read Light

TSP-Red button

bibledude-net



Sponsor a Child

Join the Compassion Blogger Network

[footer_backtotop]

Copyright © 2023 Sandra Heska King · Site by The Willingham Enterprise, LLC on the Genesis Framework by StudioPress · Log in