When was the last time
you thought about idols or idolatry? Frankly it’s not something I think about
often. Idols and idolatry are relics from another time, place or culture, or are they?
Our trip to Japan this past May brought idols back into focus. They are visible in homes, at national shrines and street corners.
The Old Testament prophets would frequently rail against the idolatry of the people of Israel. Though God was faithful, His people were not faithful. They were guilty of worshiping
idols of silver and gold. It’s quite easy to make a link with our modern
pursuit of prosperity. Has that become our god? Perhaps we need a biblical
reminder. The Ten Commandments begin with this injunction: “You shall have no other gods before
me” (Exodus 20:3).
What do we worship? What
occupies first place in our lives? Where do our thoughts naturally turn? Do
they turn to the LORD, or our favorite sports team—to Jesus or today’s hottest celebrity? Jesus
commanded us to seek first his
kingdom and his righteousness (Matthew
6:33). Is that your first pursuit? Are we faithful to him?
Actually, I think we are skirting the real issue.
The real idol—the preeminent idol in today’s western world—is the idol of self. All too
often I put myself, my comfort and well-being ahead of everything else, and
that includes Jesus and his kingdom. What I want comes first. What God wants
will just have to jockey for attention along with all the other demands upon my
life. If I’m brutally honest, most often, that’s how I run my life. How about
you?
Do we have a problem with idolatry? Absolutely!
And we are too deceived to recognize it. The god we bow down to is the god of
self and our self-will, rather than our Creator and Redeemer.
Response:
http://www.davidkitz.ca/
6 comments:
An honest and heartfelt acknowledgment of sin God will not ignore. Good word, David, and something to think about with the goals of our writing, and lives. Unless the heart is clean and naked before the Lord, the fruit of our hands cannot reach the heights of blessings He has for us.
I hear you David, and in what you say here I hear the voice - the call - of God to my own heart. And yet I've heard it before and often; the word that calls me back to the core. The Lord God first and last and none other between . . . not even oneself (ehm, not myself). Thanks. ~~+~~
A thoughtful post on introspection. I don't want to be counted among the guilty - but I am. Thanks for the prayer and for the wisdom in your words that makes me jolly well have to turn around and 'clean up my act' once more, in the name of our Saviour. (Good job He is very, very patient!)
Thank you, David Kitz, you are right on target. And, Susan Harris, you brought it to our writing. So true. It's challenging to give the Lord control, - understand His direction when writing time is not possible due to interruptions -- some good some not, and some due to my own carelessness. And, at the end of the day, after asking Him to reveal what has taken place from His point of view, to acknowledge and simply rest.
Thank you, David Kitz, you are right on target. And, Susan Harris, you brought it to our writing. So true. It's challenging to give the Lord control, - understand His direction when writing time is not possible due to interruptions -- some good some not, and some due to my own carelessness. And, at the end of the day, after asking Him to reveal what has taken place from His point of view, to acknowledge and simply rest.
Thanks David for a great reminder. We need humility and it's not easy to come by in this world. A constant threat every day that I need to watch for. How to be a leader without me but with God. Blessings, janis
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