a greater beauty.

"Our idols cannot merely be suppressed.  They must be eclipsed by a greater beauty..."

I recently came across this phrase and it has been echoing in my head ever since.  I have been convicted of the fact that I often tend toward the suppression of idols.  When I recognize an idol (usually it is myself, my comfort, my happiness, etc.) in my life, I try to push it aside or away.  Sometimes this looks like blatantly ignoring my sin (...maybe if I just forget it's there, then it'll go away, right??).  Sometimes it means making an active effort toward improving the thought or behavior (I haven't been nice to my husband...so I'll start being nicer!  I'll do something special for him!  Surely that will gloss over the fact that I've been a jerk and will make everything better...right?).

These thoughts sound pretty lame as I type them, but they're the things that really go through my head when I'm rationalizing.  I once read that human beings are not "rational" creatures, but "rationalizing" ones-- we can convince ourselves of almost anything that we want to be true, can't we?

Here's the problem: my clever plans to fix myself don't work.  Suppressing idols doesn't work.

Here's why: my appetite for sin must be replaced with a craving for Christ.

I can think my way out of something, pretend it isn't there, or work really hard to make it right.  And sometimes these methods seem to work-- for a while.  But ultimately, nothing has changed.  On my own, I am capable of little more than suppression.

Conversely: "what happens to my appetites for sin when I am filled with the fullness of God in Christ?...Indeed, as I perpetually feast on Christ and all of His blessings found in the gospel, I find that my hunger for sin diminishes and the lies of lust simply lose their appeal," (Milton Vincent, A Gospel Primer).

I am often re-learning the necessity of "feasting" on the gospel; of dwelling on the greater beauty that so easily trumps all of my idols.   Because of Christ, we can know God, and knowing Him brings us the soul-satisfaction that our sin never will.

"O God, you are my God; earnestly I
seek you,
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where
there is no water.
So I have looked upon you in the
sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
Because your steadfast love is better than
life,
my lips will praise you.
So I will bless you as long as I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands."
-Psalm 63:1-4 (esv)