“The idols we choose to love will not love us back.”
“Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry” (Col. 3:5) NASB
“So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world” (Col. 3:5) NLT
Yesterday we had a family day in “the city.” On our way we passed a horse track that is getting all sorts of renovations, a total face-lift really. There’s more seating, more parking, and a new modern look. They are making it look as attractive as possible. But as we drove past I couldn’t shake the question, “How many families will be destroyed in that place?” How many gamblers will get their fix on the thrill no matter the cost? They won’t just lose their money. They will lose the trust of others and their dignity. They may lie about where they are and how much money they lost. They may even win a few which will draw them back even deeper. Gambling will be their idol.
“A greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.” So what’s your idol? What gains your affection, your thoughts and your time? We all have something of this world that takes our focus away from giving all our worship to God.
Maybe your idol isn’t gambling, but shopping. Maybe you love the excitement of a good deal or finding the perfect pair of shoes. Maybe your idol is that extra dessert you slipped when no one was looking. Maybe your idols are those romance books that distract you from the mundane marriage you feel stuck in. Maybe it’s your career, a new fling, even your family. As human’s we have this tendency to take things are not innately wrong but we put them in a place of reverence that only Jehovah God deserves. That gets God’s attention.
You must not have any other god but me. You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands.
So what’s your idol? Go there! Go to your place of idolatry and crush it. Consider what the great King Josiah did, “He destroyed the pagan altars and the Asherah poles, and he crushed the idols into dust. He cut down all the incense altars throughout the land of Israel” (2 Chron. 34:7).
Today, let all of you belong to only One, the One who created you for His good pleasure. Let your thoughts, your deeds and your worship be directed to the Holy God who loves you enough to give up His son to save you. Don’t settle for less. Don’t accept the lies of things that won’t love you back. Give it all to Him and I promise, you won’t regret it.
