The purity of silver and gold is tested by putting them in the fire;
The purity of human hearts is tested by giving them a little fame.If we read enough of the Bible, we get the message that God is after our hearts. If we join with him and thus become his treasure, he begins to chasten and refine us. He longs after us, loves us like crazy, and wants us to hang out with him in this life and the next.
So he tests us.
With a little fame?
Fame comes in all sorts and sizes these days: blogging, Facebook and Twitter (and others), Instagram, reality TV. We can get our face, our opinion and our style out there in ways unknown just a few years ago.
When we become known through any of these, are our hearts passing God's purity test?
Money is fame as well. If you somehow become wealthy when you were not before, your heart has to answer new test questions. What do you do with newfound wealth?
You will become known as one with money (fame) so you can bet the purity of your heart is being tested.
God's fame test is designed to see if we really want him regardless of how known we become. He might call us away from fame at any moment. Fame is intoxicating; it might be quite difficult to live in its absence.
When we're tempted to hold onto something fleeting, it might help to imagine:
Which will still be around in 100 years?God for sure; fame for sure not.
Resist fanning the flame of fame. Keep the God-chase alive.
Comments are welcome at feedyourstrength@gmail.com.
