Thursday, March 28, 2024

Reopening In The Midst Of a Storm Demands You to Discern Idols

Hello, Blessed Ones ….

frustrated female (google free to use)

 

Today’s topic is concerning idols. Google says an idol is an image or representation of a god used as an object of worship. Maybe you’re thinking, I don’t worship or bow down to a physical sculpture or a graven image like some of the people in the Bible. 

Another definition I found said an idol is a person or thing that is greatly admired, loved, or revered. For example, a preacher, priest, U.S. flag, teacher, father, etc. 

The best definition of an idol is found in scripture. Idols go as far back to when Israel was in bondage to Egypt. Egypt was a land of many idols and many gods. Led by Moses, Israel had just been freed from 400 years of slavery from Egypt. Therefore, they had seen and been under the influence of many different gods. After leaving Egypt, God led Moses and the people of Israel to a mountain called Mount Sinai. God gave Moses 10 commandments as a law for the people of Israel to live by.  These commands may be found in Exodus 20. The first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me.” The second, “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.” Now, why did God command this? It was a common Egyptian practice to worship different gods to receive different blessings or benefits. God wanted the people of Israel to realize He was and is the only true God; not one of many gods.  God is a jealous “GOD.” God created the heavens and the earth and everything in them. He spoke the world into existence and He will NOT share His glory! He says in Isaiah 42:8, “I am the LORD; that is My name! I will not yield My glory to another or my praise to idols.”

An idol is ANYTHING or anyone we give more of our time and effort that takes our focus away from God and His will and purpose for our lives. Therefore, a job, house, car, spouse, children, money, sex, money, tv, your time, etc. Did I forget to mention money?  On, their own, and within the confines by which they were made, the before mentioned list are not bad, but when the focus is strictly to acquire these things to the point of sacrificing our time with God and in His Word, it then becomes an idol which is another name for a small “god.” 

If you were to add up how many hours you sat and watched television, read a good book, played a video game, worked in your yard or spent daydreaming compared to time spent in God’s Word and in prayer, it would be no contest. The former would win hands down. If we were truly honest with ourselves, we all are guilty of not spending enough time with The, LORD. And I know it’s not realistic to think we should spend most of our day in the Bible or in private prayer when we all have jobs and other daily responsibilities. What, then, am I saying? God wants the time we do spend in his word and in prayer to influence us so much that our time working at our jobs or parenting our children or loving our spouses or grocery shopping, should always reflect His goodness. 

When we get caught up in the amount of money we can earn and what we can buy with that money, or when we buy the house with the money we earned but spend more time acquiring things to fill the house, thus spending less time thanking God for the blessing(s), is when the house becomes an idol. Idols distract us from God. Idols tell God you trust what you can see, touch, hear, taste or smell. It says you believe in what YOU can do for yourself; not what God can do, wants to do and has already done for you. In Matthew 4:10, Jesus said, Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.” In Luke 16:13 Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” Money, or the love thereof, has a way of taking the place of God and thus becomes our master. 

The more we get caught up in our idols the more, slowly-but-surely, we will place God on the back burner. He is then visited many times only when hardship or devastation occurs. 

Don’t feel you’re alone. The Israelites did the same thing. They followed God‘s commands for a little while, but eventually went their own way. They cried out to God for relief only when things became too difficult for them to bear.

Just so you understand, placing an idol before God is a sin. 1 John 5:21 says, “Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.”

Blessed Ones:  As a Believer in Christ Jesus as our Lord and Savior, let us remember what he said regarding our first love. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”  Matthew 22: 37-40

Be blessed and be a blessing,

Bride of Christ 

WOW is a 501(c)3 charitable organization.  WOW exists to glorify God and build His Kingdom.  WOW fellowships with like-minded people and performs community service.  WOW represents single Christians thirty five years of age and older throughout the Dallas Fort Worth Texas Metroplex.   

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