15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. – 1 John 2:15-16

“Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” – Genesis 22:12

The great theologian St. Augustine said, “Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.” God has made us for himself. Our hearts were made for the audience of One. Only God can satisfy our heart’s desires. But there is a problem. We have placed other gods on the throne of our hearts. A.W. Tozer defines this problem by saying, 

The roots of our hearts have grown down into things, and we dare not pull up one rootlet lest we die. Things have become necessary to us, a development never originally intended. God’s gifts now take the place of God, and the whole course of nature is upset by this monstrous substitution.
In our human nature all of us find ourselves at times consumed with “things” rather than God. Oftentimes, these things that our hearts are consumed with begin as blessings from God– a promotion in our career, a friend we are called to do life with, a child God has blessed us with, financial blessing and success, etc. But somehow these blessings begin to take residence on the throne of our hearts. A.W. Tozer expounds on this struggle in his exposition of the story of Abraham and Isaac. God made a promise to Abraham that he would receive a son. From this son God’s promise would be fulfilled that said Abraham’s offspring would be more numerous than the stars and would bless all the nations of the earth.

Tozer highlights the inner turmoil and struggle Abraham faces when God asks Abraham to sacrifice this son to him. Abraham’s son Isaac was the promise Abraham had been waiting on for 25 years. Isaac represented Abraham’s greatest treasure, his most prized possession, the promises of God, the dream of the coming Messiah. As Isaac grew up Abraham’s heart was knit closer and closer to his son. He was his life, his love, his hope, his joy. Tozer points out that it was at this moment that God intervened to remove Isaac from the throne of Abraham’s heart by asking Abraham to sacrifice Isaac to God. By faith Abraham prepared the sacrifice and marched up mount Moriah to perform the sacrifice. Just as Abraham was getting ready to slay his son God speaks to Abraham, “Abraham, Abraham! Do not lay your hand on the boy. For now I know you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” God then begins to declare the great blessing that would come to Abraham. In this moment Abraham’s son, his most prized possession, was uprooted from his heart. He had given up everything for God. He had passed the test.

Once Abraham had uprooted Isaac from his heart, Tozer says, “He (Abraham) had everything, but he possessed nothing. There is the spiritual secret.” What a profound statement. Abraham was the most blessed man on planet earth. His descendants would be more numerous than the stars. Through his offspring would come the Messiah and Savior of the world and all the earth would be blessed because of his seed. Abraham was “richer” than any man on earth, yet he possessed nothing! He had let go of everything. He had let it all die, even his most precious son. God was his treasure!

The key to true contentment is owning everything, yet possessing nothing. It’s when we have all the blessings of God, but we hold on to none of them. We can truly enjoy them because they are simply a blessing, not our ultimate treasure. God is our treasure that never leaves us nor forsakes us.

Can you say along with Abraham, “I own everything, yet possess nothing?” What “things” have taken up residence on the throne of your heart in place of God? What needs to be uprooted and dethroned so Jesus can have his rightful place as the only one who sits on the throne of your heart?

Bring this before the Lord and allow him to do his work in your heart.