Charles Spurgeon wrote: “If you love anything better than God you are idolaters: if there is anything you would not give up for God it is your idol…”
Proverbs 5:18-20
18 Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth,
19 a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love.
20 Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?
One of the greatest idols of our day is the “worship” of intimacy. This idolatry can be found in the incognito tabs of our browsers, in the constant interests of our minds, throughout our social media feeds, and even in the place God ordained it to be enjoyed—a marriage relationship.
For so many, the love of pleasure is the supreme love of their life. Throughout the New Testament, we find repeated warnings against sexual immorality. Paul warns that we are to flee, not even try to fight, sexual temptation (1 Corinthians 6). Peter calls for vigilance against the enemy (1 Peter 5), and James reminds us that sinful desire ultimately leads to death (James 1).
Do you love the feeling of pleasure more than anything else?
Do you set your mind on finding outlets to gratify your desires?
Is this the one area you are unwilling to surrender to God?
Those who read this are all across the spectrum in their struggles with and temptations toward sexual immorality, but I want to share where this hits me the most now.
I have been married for 15 years to a beautiful bride of my youth whom I delight in and am intoxicated by. That does not mean that ads on television, pop-ups on websites, or posts on social media are not tempting, but thanks be to God, I have found strength in Him to resist the temptation to gratify my sexual desires outside of the good gift of marriage.
Yet, I still see the temptation of idolatry in my intimate life. I can catch myself longing for and arranging my life around creating moments of intimacy with Carlin more than I seek time with God. You may say that is natural and normal…and certainly, there is nothing wrong with desiring intimacy with your spouse. But even a good gift can become an idol when it begins to take the place of God.
I find myself at times treating intimacy as something separate from my relationship with God, rather than something He created and gave as a blessing. Instead of receiving this gift with thanksgiving, I can become so focused on the pleasure itself that I forget the One who provided it.
Where does this become an idol? When I become unwilling to worship God in the ways He has commanded because I am choosing intimacy over Him.
The question is not whether we enjoy God's good gifts, but whether we have begun to worship the gift more than the Giver.
