Identifying Our Idols

Matthew 6:31-33 (NIV) -

So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

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Okay. As we started discussing yesterday, the only true way to find fulfilment in our lives is to get rid of our idols and accept the full reality of God. But in order to get rid of our idols, we have to first know what they are.

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language has this definition of an idol which I think aptly sums it up: "One that is adored, often blindly or excessively." In order to frame this in a biblical context, let's then take a look at the first of the 10 Commandments: “You shall have no other gods before me." (Ex 20:3 NIV)

By putting these together, the picture we get is this: an idol is anything that we blindly or excessively adore/worship, to the point of putting it before God in our lives. That covers a fair bit, huh?

There's a quote by John Calvin that I love: "The human heart is a perpetual idol factory." Whenever we focus on something and put it in a higher place of importance than our relationship with and obedience to God, that thing had become an idol, and it is so easy and natural to fall into because it can literally be the smallest things. To give you an idea of just how small, while doing my challenge recently I was abstaining from sweet drinks. One of the few things I was allowed to drink was milk, and I know some of you will judge me for it, but I quite enjoyed having a glass every now and again. But at one point, I felt God challenging me that I needed to stop drinking it for a little while. As small and as silly as it sounds, if I had disregarded that thought, that small command, I would have been creating an idol.

However, these idols have no power or authority, nor can they ensure our safety or health or future. Only God can promise those things, and He does. In the passage above, Jesus Himself says that if we seek God first (leaving all our idols behind in the process) then He will make sure that we always have everything we need in the moment. By focusing on Him and Him alone, we no longer need to worry about how we're going to survive, because God is Yahweh Yireh, the Lord Will Provide, and He meets our needs.

My challenge to you is this: spend some time reflecting, and ask God to show you what you are putting above Him in your life. Those are your idols. Write them down, and ask Him to help you get rid of them. Tomorrow, we'll talk about why idolatry is such a big deal, and then we can start looking at how to get rid of them.