“The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie. It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world. It is not the X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of triviality we drink in every night. For all the ill that Satan can do, when God describes what keeps us from the banquet table of his love, it is a piece of land, a yoke of oxen, and a wife (Luke 14:18-20). The greatest adversary of love to God is not his enemies but his gifts. And the most deadly appetites are not for the poison of evil, but for the simple pleasures of earth. For when these replace an appetite for God himself, the idolatry is scarcely recognizable, and almost incurable.”
John Piper in A Hunger for God
Therefore let us shun the gifts of the Almighty, for they are the tools of Satan. Huh?
Thanks for reading & the comment!
In response, I don’t think that was necessarily the point he was trying to make, primarily because that is not what he said. I took him to mean that anything, even good things, can get out of balance in our lives if we idolize them above God. I think he was simply saying that many times we are so full of other things, and not always evil things but simply common things, that we lack a hunger for the presence of God.