New Morning Mercies: A Daily Gospel Devotional

by Paul David Tripp

Now, because you are a sinner, it is very tempting to give the love and worship that you were meant to give to God and God alone to something in the creation (see Rom. 1:22–25). You take the affection, submission, and service of your heart that was meant to be reserved for the Creator and you place it on some created thing. We all do this in some way. So the desire for good possessions is not wrong, but it must not rule your heart. The hunger for comfort and ease is not ungodly in itself, but it must not rule your heart. The desire for the love of another person is not wrong, but it must not rule your heart. A desire for even a good thing becomes a bad thing when that desire becomes a ruling thing. Good things never result when love for and worship of the Creator are replaced by love for and worship of created things. So what does grace do? Grace works to rescue you from you by progressively breaking your bondage to the created world and turning the deepest affection of your heart toward God. God alone is worthy of your worship. God alone is able to satisfy and bring peace to your heart. This work of rescue is not yet complete in any of us. Yes, by grace we love the world less than we once did and we surely love God more than before, but our hearts are still torn and our loyalties at points are still confused. But we need not fret, because grace will win and bring final rest to our worship and our love.