"Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.” Psalm 73:25

More on the idol in my trophy case. Here’s a clue: it showed up on February 3 when the Patriots football team, after a perfect season, lost their final game, the Super Bowl.

I was amazed at how it affected me: I had trouble sleeping that night and every time I thought about it, which was often, sadness came over me.

So what was my idol? It was not being a Patriots fan. Nor was it following the football outcomes.

No, my mistake was hanging my happiness on the my team having a perfect record.

The reality is they had a great season even though they lost the Championship

.

It is normal to be a little sad when your team loses. It is not normal to be so down that you have to go through the grief cycle,

to be almost depressed about an event that in the grand sum of history has zero importance.

Another factor in this idol is that I like to be linked to a winner, as the Patriots were this season.

It gives a sense of significance, of excitement, of glamour.

In the end, though, no human being or institution is always a winner; there will always be losses and let downs.

In contrast, as true followers of Christ, we are tied to the Winner, Jesus, who has defeated death and the devil.

He is triumphing each day in helping His children to reject temptation, to live godly lives and in bringing many new believers into His Kingdom.

And in the end, He will complete his triumph over all evil. Plus, He is inviting us to join Him in His great victories and to share in His glory.

“When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you will also appear with Him in glory” (Col. 3:4).

And “all kinds of trials…have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith…

may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Pet. 1:6,7).

God is moving history to a conclusion and taking us with Him!

Are we following or are we camping out in idol land?

I praise God I was disappointed on February 3rd, for He had far greater things for me (and many others) than a perfect season for my team!

This loss took my eyes off the temporal and got them back on the eternal.

Prayer: “Lord, help me to set my heart on things above, to live in the stability of your character, the certainty of your victory, the security of your power.

Help me to be quickly aware of idols in my life and confess and abandon them immediately. May you be glorified in this. Amen.”

Picture: Jesus has conquered death and will come again in triumph, the ultimate Winner