What a sad statement! This man, of the people of Israel, God’s people, had set his heart, his hope, and his purpose of living on idols and a false religion of his own making. What emptiness!

We too live in a world that presents all kinds of things to us, idols and a religious system that draws away our hearts from the Lord. It could be sinful pleasures, as it was for David (2 Sam. 11); or it could be riches, as in the case of Zacchaeus before his encounter with the Lord (Lk. 19). It could be a comfortable retirement, as in the case of the rich farmer who built bigger barns to hold more of his goods so that he could relax and enjoy these things for his remaining years (Lk. 12). Or it could be the love of honor and the adulation of others, as Saul loved because of his pride. Or perhaps it could be like the prodigal son, who wanted freedom and earthly pleasures to whatever degree that he desired (Lk. 15). But as we read the accounts of these various ones, we see that there was emptiness of heart and, for some, a disastrous outcome.

In contrast to these, we see the Lord. When He was hungry, He resisted the temptation to make stones into bread, although He was the Son of God; He did not seek His own honor by jumping off the pinnacle of the temple; and He refused to bow down in worship to anything or anyone other than His God (Lk. 4:2–13).

How about us? Are our hearts fixed on and fulfilled by the Lord and what He has given? With the Levites, it was God who was their portion. For Asaph, it was the Lord of heaven and earth: “Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You” (Ps. 73:25). May that be our desire too!