A new string of pearls...

Up until my wedding day, I had never owned a piece of "real" jewelry (other than my wedding ring...which I don't really count as jewelry...it's permanent :).  The closest thing I had to anything like that was a cheap pearl necklace I had found at a thrift store.  The pearls (or the beads that were painted to look like pearls) were way too big, and had turned this yellow-ish color rather than the ivory they were supposed to be. But, I didn't know any different.  I had never experienced anything better, and so I was completely happy with what I had...
Until my wedding day.  As my wedding gift, Kade gave me a real pearl necklace and earrings to wear as I walked down the aisle to him.  They are so beautiful:  just the perfect size, with an ivory color (not yellow...).  I couldn't have asked for anything better.  I know that I'll treasure them forever, not just because they are real and valuable, but also because of what they represent.  In fact, when I'm not wearing them, I still keep them wrapped up in the box, just like the day he gave them to me.
Now, imagine something me.  Picture my wedding day:  its close to time to take pictures, and all the girls are bustling around, doing what they need to in order to get ready.  Imagine me, in my wedding dress, putting on last minute touches with make-up and lip gloss.  And then, to top it all off, I put on my wedding jewelry:  my cheap, thrift store string of pearls, in all its faded yellow glory.
I really hope something seems incredibly wrong with that picture.  Does it make any sense to wear the same old jewelry I've always worn?  The jewelry that is cheap and imitation, that doesn't satisfy nearly as much as the real thing?  Of course not...
And yet, it's hit me in the past few days, that I do that very thing to the Lord.  My desire is so much for myself:  my ways, my plans...what I think should happen, what I want.  I choose my desires, myself, over Him...completely forgetting that He is the One who is sovereign and above all.  His is the only plan that brings about His glory...which is truly my greatest joy, and delight.  I was reading in Psalms 105, and came upon these words in verses 19 and 20:  "They made a calf in Horeb and worshiped a metal image.  They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass."  My instinct here is to say that I'm not like that...I don't exchange the Lord for an idol (especially not an idol in the image of a cow...).  But how often do I choose my plans over the Lord?  How often do I throw aside the best He has for me, just in order to cling to my desires.  Oh Lord, open my eyes to the idols I have put in place of You...may You be the only glory I choose to behold.
I hope today, you might find yourself choosing the very best the Lord has to offer...Himself.  And in choosing that, may you choose to get rid of all those old, imitation necklaces that just don't measure up...