Surah Baqarah Ayah 93

And [recall] when We took your covenant and raised over you the mount, [saying], "Take what We have given you with determination and listen." They said [instead], "We hear and disobey." And their hearts absorbed [the worship of] the calf because of their disbelief. Say, "How wretched is that which your faith enjoins upon you, if you should be believers."


In this ayah, Allah swt is narrating about another display of disobedience and arrogance of Bani Israel.

Why the hearts of Bani Israel absorbed the love of calf and they started worshipping it?

After being saved from Pharoah and seeing people of Pharoah getting drowned in sea, Bani Israel came to live in the Plain of Sinai. Then Musa as went to Mount Sinai to receive Torah from Allah swt. In Musa as absence, a wicked man named Samirri among them built a gold calf for them and inspired them to worship that calf instead of worshipping Allah swt. Their iman was so weak that they forgot about all the blessings of Allah swt and started doing shirk by worshipping calf. The love of calf settled in their hearts so deeply that it superceded the love of Allah swt. This happened because despite all the blessings of Allah swt, they never truly recognized the greatness of Allah, they did not have any desire to seek His pleasure and they only cared about their own desires.

From this we learn:

1) We should check what's our ijl (calf)? What is distracting us from worshipping Allah swt? Different people have different distractors in their lives which do not allow them to focus in Salah or do His dhikr. Lets check our distractors and try to minimize them. Are they TV shows, songs, dramas, cooking, parties, shopping, studies, hobbies? Lets check what are we thinking about in our Salahs? What things make us to offer our prayers in a rush? What things make us delay or miss our prayers? What are we thinking about when we are alone? What things stop us from reading and learning Quran?

2) As Bani Israel inclined towards worshipping calf, Allah swt filled the love of calf in their hearts. So Allah swt facilitates for the person whatever he/she is inclined towards or desires. If a person desires to seek guidance and earn His pleasure, Allah swt guides him/her. But if a person desires only to gain worldly comforts and pleasure, Allah swt will give him/her dunya. So we should check what do we desire? What are we striving for? Are all our efforts purely for earning dunya? Do we ever take out time for this deen? 
There is nothing wrong in seeking worldly comforts and pleasure but we should make sure that deen is #1 on our list. Our worldly endeavors should never make us compromise our religion/ Allah's commands. Yes, there is nothing wrong in acquiring worldly education, but if we miss our Salah or fasts because of it, it is indeed blameworthy. Buying big homes and new cars is not a sin but if we take mortgage for it or involve yourself in haram jobs, then it is a sin in the eyes of Allah. 

May Allah swt make us focused in our Salahs and facilitate the path of guidance for us which will directly lead us to Jannah, Ameen!