By Staff Writer, Matt Osborne

Victor Wembanyama was the talk of the sports world when he was selected first overall by the San Antonio Spurs in last week’s NBA Draft, but fewer sports fans may know there’s another generational talent preparing to be selected No. 1 in his sport’s respective draft.

17-year-old Connor Bedard from Canada is considered by many experts to be one of the best hockey prospects of all time.

Playing this past season in the CHL (Canada’s premier hockey league for young players up to 20 years old), Bedard recorded an astonishing 143 points (71 goals and 72 assists) in 57 games. He finished the season as the CHL’s top points scorer and league MVP.

Due to his known status as a phenom, Bedard was invited to the BioSteel Camp in Toronto before the start of the 2022 season. Professional scouts wanted to see if competing against many of the NHL’s current top stars at the camp would expose any glaring flaws in his game.

As expected, Bedard performed remarkably well, solidifying his status as hockey’s next bright star. And if all goes according to plan, he will be selected first overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in tonight’s NHL Draft.

When it comes to scouting prospects, teams are always looking for opportunities to diagnose potential weaknesses in players. Many top prospects are so superior to their competition that it sometimes allows them to hide significant flaws in their game.

That’s why professional teams on the scouting trail look for ways to diagnose and expose those flaws, whether by having prospects perform certain drills or by having the players play against higher levels of competition. This allows the scouts to determine what might hold a player back and where the focus of improvement needs to be.

When it comes to being followers of Jesus, making an accurate diagnosis of our spiritual lives can sometimes be difficult – especially in the area of idols. Often we have a hidden weakness of idols in our hearts. However, it’s crucial that we allow God to expose them and help us determine what is holding us back and where the focus of our improvement needs to be.

Biblical idolatry can be defined as anything which replaces God in terms of our reverence or devotion. Things that are not inherently bad or sinful can very quickly become idols in our lives when we place too much value on them.

One example of that would be money. While money isn’t inherently bad, the Apostle Paul wrote this in Colossians 3:5 (NIV): “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.” 

Having money isn’t inherently sinful, but it can very easily become an idol if we are giving more devotion to acquiring money than we are to serving God.

The same can be said for other areas of our lives. Things such as comfort, recreation, work, relationships, and achievements are all examples of potentially good things that can very quickly become idols if we’re not careful.

But how can we diagnose if these potentially good things have become idols in our lives?

In his book Gods At War, Kyle Idleman gives seven questions that people can use to help diagnose potential idols in their lives. And while these questions don’t ensure a complete revealing of our idols, they can be our “drills” to help get us thinking about where we may be placing too much devotion and affection.

Rather than posting all seven, here are three questions we can take time to think through today:

1. What gets you upset or makes you complain?

• We all get frustrated from time to time, but if we find ourselves constantly getting upset over the same things or issues, it may be a sign that we are placing too much emphasis on that particular thing.

2. What worries you?

• We typically don’t get worried about things that don’t matter much to us. If we find ourselves getting inordinately worried about something, it might indicate that we have an idol.

3. Where do you make financial sacrifices?

• As always, there is nuance here. We all must use a certain amount of money to provide for our basic needs. But when we look at our expenses, how much is going to true needs versus personal desires? How we spend the “excess” money certainly can be an indicator of what we value most in life.

While I hope these questions help us better diagnose potential idols in our lives, they aren’t a perfect problem solver. Ultimately, each of us must also ask God to help reveal the idols that we may have.

King David wrote in Psalm 139:23-24 (NLT), “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”

Today, let’s ask God to help us to see the idols in our lives that offend Him so we might repent and cling to Him.

I’m Matt Osborne and you can UNPACK that!

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, please forgive me for any idols I have in my life. I acknowledge that I often have blindspots, so I pray that you would help me see where I am placing too much emphasis and devotion on things in my life. Help me to always treasure You above all other things. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.