But I took a solemn oath against them in the wilderness. I swore I would not bring them into the land I had given them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful place on earth. For they had rejected my regulations, refused to follow my decrees, and violated my Sabbath days. Their hearts were given to their idols. [Ezekiel 20.15-16]
What are our hearts given to today?
Something else in Ezekiel 20 will perhaps give us a clue as to where are hearts are:
“Therefore, son of man, give the people of Israel this message from the Sovereign LORD: Your ancestors continued to blaspheme and betray me, for when I brought them into the land I had promised them, they offered sacrifices on every high hill and under every green tree they saw! They roused my fury as they offered up sacrifices to their gods. They brought their perfumes and incense and poured out their liquid offerings to them. [Ezekiel 20.27-28]
This may be a stretch, but it would seem that perfumes and incense and... liquid offerings all represent one thing: the currency of the day in a barter society, i.e., their money. I say this because at least the perfumes and incense part would later play a critical role in identifying Messiah:
They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. [Matthew 2.11]
Gold. frankincense, and myrrh in a "treasure" chest offers a pretty good clue that these items held great value and were indeed gifts fit for a king.
So, if in Ezekiel 20.27-28, the people's idolatry involved giving items of great value to things they trusted instead of God (idols), it suddenly doesn't seem such a stretch to equate perfumes and incense then to money today. Their hearts were given to that to which/whom they gave their items of great value - their currency of the day.
Carrying this further, Jesus said something significant about this topic:
Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. [Matthew 6.21]
Let's say it like this: "Where your money goes, there goes your trust."
Okay then, now we are getting somewhere. Where do we spend our money? Are we giving our currency of the day to something we trust in instead of God? Because where our money goes points directly to what we trust in - what we believe in - what our hearts are given to - be it idol or be it God. OUCH!
I am just going to blurt it out here because it needs to be asked: We say we trust God as our Healer, but if so, why do we spend so much money on medicine and healthcare? We say we trust God with our well-being and provision, but if so, why do we spend so much on insurance? There are other questions about where our money goes that could be telling, but these are certainly recognizable to most all.
What should concern us is the fact that any conclusion drawn here has very little likelihood of being followed. Instead it will be reasoned that these conclusions are ridiculous and fanatical (and everyone knows "you just can't do that").
Perhaps however we should consider our answers to the questions posed here. Our heart (what we trust in) is revealed in where we place our value - our currency of the day - our money. Where we put our money reveals where we put our trust.
To get some hard answers, we are going to have to ask some hard questions!
Do we trust God alone? Or, do we trust in the works of man (idols)? Before answering this question with the standard, "Well, God uses man..." answer, be sure you can do so with a fully clear conscious of the meaning of the First Commandment:
“You must not have any other god but me. [Exodus 20.3]
Father, the questions posed here, I'm afraid, reveal my own blatant hypocrisy. I want to look and act differently than the world - as did Jesus. I want to consider my ways - what I genuinely trust in - and be found trusting only and unmistakably in You. I want my heart to be given to You and my money to prove it!
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