The lure of idolatry is the sense of control. The very first sin every committed was baited with the lie that we could be like God, deciding what is good and evil. In other words, we could be in control. When we put our hope and trust and our identity in people or material objects then we are trusting in something we can see, something we can manage and possibly even predict. But, when it comes to God we can’t do those things. God is above us, beyond us, and his primary concern is not our comfort and happiness, and that scares us immensely. So, in our attempts of self-preservation we turn to that which is “safe” and “predictable,” namely other forms of creation, to find rest for our wearied souls.

People will chase after an identity they feel gives them worth. Be it the identity of a beauty to adore, a lover who is needed, a person of power and popularity, etc. putting our trust and identity in created things will keep us from seeing ourselves the way God sees us, our true selves. This mis-prioritization has lead to church splits, broken marriages, and addiction, to name a few, in the lives of people who profess to follow Christ because when we turn our eyes away from Christ as the center of our existence we are turning away from the One who says we are loved exactly as He made us to be. We cover our ears to the sound of the King of the Universe saying we belong and instead listen to the voices of lesser beings telling us what we need to do in order to fit in

Initially the ability to predict and control God may sound like a good idea. It may make us feel safer having that kind of control. But, stop and ponder the implications of such a reality. The moment God becomes predictable and controllable he ceases to be God, and if He is not God then someone else will have to be. That will either be you or someone or something else. I think we all know how horrific the idea of us being God is, but we need to also realize that if someone or something else is God he, she, or it would not be under your control either. In other words, unless you are God you cannot escape the fact that someone, or something, else is ultimately in control and therefore unpredictable. The question we must ask ourselves, is who better for that to be than a God who is willing to give Himself to us in love?

Samuel says that presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. That word presumption literally means to coerce, or push someone into doing something. Saul had become fearful of the Philistines and grew impatient waiting for Samuel. So, rather than waiting and trusting what God had said He would do if Saul obeyed, Saul decided to try to force God’s hand by offering the sacrifice himself. Saul thought he could control God and thereby ultimately was trusting in himself and not in the faithfulness of God. That is the heart of idolatry. It is the attempt to force God’s hand by taking what we want and presuming He will bless it. We get into the relationship we know we shouldn’t be in. We let that relationship go places we know it shouldn’t go. We buy things we know we don’t actually need. We perform religious actions in an attempt to earn righteousness. All of this is without faith and trust in the goodness and faithfulness of God. This is why the writer of Hebrews said that without faith it is impossible to please God.

Trusting in His goodness and faithfulness towards us regardless of what our circumstances may say about it. Living a consecrated life means allowing who God is to determine our circumstances rather than allowing our circumstances to determine who we believe God to be.

When we look at what Jesus was willing to go through on our behalf we have a guarantee of God’s goodness, lovingkindness and perfect righteousness. Therefore, we know we can trust Him with our lives. That is what Paul meant when he said we can rejoice in our sufferings (Romans 5:3). Jesus consecrated Himself for us. He humbled Himself in the form of a man. He lived the perfect life of obedience. He willingly submitted Himself to the will of God and suffered and died on the cross. The fact that He was willing to consecrate Himself in that way for us should move us to a place of wanting to consecrate ourselves for Him.