In yesterday’s devotional I highlighted two questions from Tim Keller’s book, Counterfeit Gods.** Today I’m going to highlight two more. They are designed to help us think about our ultimate commitments. Is God number one in our lives, or have we let something or someone else compete for the throne that only belongs to him?

1. What are you really living for? 

What are we most committed to? What do we really want out of life? Be honest. Is it money? Is it to be admired by others? Is it for our children to obtain some sort of worldly success? Is it picture-perfect looks? How we answer these questions might reveal something to us about our ultimate commitments.

2. What are your most uncontrollable emotions? 

When certain things don’t happen and we get really upset, or when we get really excited about something that doesn’t really matter that much, are we being told something about what we truly care about most? Perhaps not always, but sometimes? There are times when our out-of-proportion emotions reveal to us something about our ultimate commitments. 

Theologian John Calvin says that when our hearts are left to their own desires they become “a perpetual factory of idols.”* Yikes! But I suspect he’s right. 

Psalm 42 begins like this: “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.” The word “panting” is an acknowledgement not only that we need God to survive, but to fulfill the deepest longings of our heart.

We are experts at finding things other than God to worship. However, those things will always let us down. God wants to be the centre of our lives because that is what is actually best for us. Not only is he a blessing to us, but through us he becomes a blessing to others.

Does something need to be dethroned from your heart so God can re-take his rightful place?

“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.”

Notes:

-*John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, ed. John T. McNeill (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1960), 1.10.8., p. 108.
-The Up Devotional is published 5 days a week and returns on May 19, 2025.
-Bible quotes are from the NIV.