Drop the Ball!

1 Samuel 12:21

Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless.

I began a Beth Moore Bible study yesterday at my church. Beth has an amazing passion for and understanding of the Bible, and I so enjoy learning from her. I also love her stories. In the video we watched yesterday, she described how her adorable dog named Queen Esther is obsessed with this particular ball. She eats with it, sleeps with it, cherishes it. When Beth puts the ball away in a drawer, the dog lays by the drawer looking loving and longingly towards the drawer where her precious ball resides. There are times when Beth has to tell Queen Esther to drop the ball, and I can just see her trying to tug the slobbery rubber ball out of the dog's tightly-clenched jaws.

Beth related this story to how we, as God's freed people, continue to hold onto the "balls" in our lives. We become slaves to our idols, obsessed to the point where we want to eat with them, sleep with them, cherish them.
We allow the chains of our idols to bind us, although Christ has already freed us from them.

This really hit home with me. Do I have balls that I need to drop? Are there things that I give a place higher than they should be? What idols are in my life? God is prompting me to drop the ball. Will you drop yours?