During my walk with Christ, God has really been showing me how easy it is to fall into idol worship, even revealing areas in my life where I am on dangerous ground! I never really thought of idolatry outside of what examples you find in the bible, like creating your own God’s made of silver and gold, or wood to bow down to. Whether you worship a cow, or the moon and stars, anything outside of God is idolatry. So understanding that basis and knowing these are things I had never dabbled in, I always felt like this area wasn’t applicable to me and my walk. The first thing I had to do was understand what idolatry actually meant, when I considered the meaning I realised we are probably all guilty of having idols in our lives! Idolatry is simply worshipping something as if it was God, I saw something that said it is like thanking the gift instead of the gift giver which I thought was a good way to look at it. We are all guilty of it to some degree if we are honest with ourselves. Today we see it manifested in many different ways, I’ve seen people give thanks to some strange things, like once I spoke to a lady that said she gave thanks to the water before she consumed it, I was just as baffled as you! The funny thing is when you question these people they usually then talk about it being spiritual and a oneness with all things, which always sends me spiralling into further confusion. I remember before I came to Christ I was probably one of those spiritual, at one with all things type of people, I gave a lot of my thanks to the universe, mainly because I didn’t know any better. I didn’t know who God was, and out of the many God’s on selection I didn’t know which I subscribed to, so it felt right to just be vague with everything. Giving thanks and worshipping the universe was and is idolatry! God, who is the ultimate gift giver, who created all things including the universe is the one and ONLY we should give all thanks and praise to! It’s madness to give thanks to the gift and not the creator and giver of the gift, but that is exactly what we do when we call on the universe, water, mother nature, and the moon and stars. These examples are the obvious types of idol worship we see today, if we exercise wisdom we can easily avoid these as Christians, although I know some people who claim to be Christians who still worship the universe and give thanks without acknowledging God himself! DEUTERONOMY 17:3 “FOR INSTANCE, THEY MIGHT SERVE OTHER GODS OR WORSHIP THE SUN, THE MOON, OR ANY OF THE STARS- THE FORCES OF HEAVEN- WHICH I HAVE STRICTLY FORBIDDEN.”
So how do we recognise the idols in our lives? Well ask yourself this, what is the thing in your life that is so important to you, it means everything to you, you may neglect your responsibilities because of it, it may even take up so much of your time that your time spent with God diminishes, you basically could not do without it, IT WILL ALWAYS COME FIRST IN YOUR LIFE! Now that thing, it could even be a person, that could very well be your idol! EXODUS 20:3 “YOU SHALL HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME.”
Asking yourself what is more important in situations that result in some kind of physical/tangible loss but gain you more on your spiritual walk with Jesus can be challenging. As much as the choice should always be Christ without hesitation, the reality is always much different. But choosing Christ in those moments is always what results in spiritual growth. A good example is money, we all need money to live, but how much is too much, and are we willing to lose money if it means gaining spiritual riches? My mum used to make her children her idols. As she is learning about God she is realising that He is the reason for everything, even the kids she was blessed with. My mum would always give thanks to me (I am the oldest) she would say without me she couldn’t do anything, and likened me to being her right hand. Now that is too much pressure for anyone to live up to! As I was coming to Christ and sharing with her, I started to correct her when she would say anything that took the thanks away from God. If she was so appreciative of the gift that she had been given (her children) then thank the reason for the gifts, God! We don’t thank the gift and not the gift giver. She understands now, and I think that it has made her appreciate God on another level because she knows that God gave her the kids she has for a reason, the personalities given to each of them were tailored for her, and that attention to detail that God always gives is what confirms His love for us! I know there are a lot of parents that would struggle if God asked them like He asked Abraham to return their gift back to sender. That is just it, if God says put me first and we say no, or but, or why, then we are guilty of placing our gifts in higher standing than God, and that is idolatry! There is a reason the bible talks about idolatry in the ways it does, and it’s because it is so easy for us to fall at that hurdle because it’s in our nature! Before we came to Christ we were idolaters, we put everything first before God, we put everything that is from our adversary before God! Look at the chosen people of the bible, God having recused them from the clutches of Egypt and walked with them, yet they still took any opportunity to place their faith in things seen, making their own God’s to worship! If they could do that, then who are we!?! We are not any better, because of time and culture, our idols may look a little different but the story remains the same. COLOSSIANS 3:5 “PUT TO DEATH, THEREFORE, WHATEVER BELONGS TO YOUR EARTHLY NATURE: SEXUAL IMMORALITY, IMPURITY, LUST, EVIL DESIRES AND GREED, WHICH IS IDOLATRY.”
Another part of idolatry we overlook is the religious idols we hold dear to us. Whether its a statue of Jesus for some, or the virgin Mary for others, the importance we place on these man made items can very well act in place of the God they are meant to represent. God is Spirit, not a carved statue, or a gold trinket! Even though these items are meant well, if we start holding on to them like a good luck charm, or bowing down to them in expectance when we pray, we are no better than the Israelites of Exodus! LEVITICUS 26:1 “DO NOT MAKE IDOLS OR SET UP AN IMAGE OR A SACRED STONE FOR YOURSELVES, AND DO NOT PLACE A CARVED STONE IN YOUR LAND TO BOW DOWN BEFORE IT. I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD.”
Trusting in what we can not see is hard, it’s easier to place our eyes on something and focus on that one thing, placing our hopes on it. When we have faith, we are placing our hopes on what we can not see, focusing on and trusting in God. We are all tested at points in our lives, my test right now is a financial one. As God changes me, all the things I used to be at peace with now trouble me. My job has been a blessing for many years, God truly has helped me to be independent and be in a position to support my family, but as I have found Christ I feel the direction of my life changing which is unsettling at almost 40! I now don’t see myself doing this job until retirement as I did before, which is quite unnerving because a lot of the plans for my future depended on the salary my job provides. The thing about God is that sometimes He puts you in places for a specific season of your life, but you become so comfortable there you don’t want to go, you become so accustomed to a lifestyle that you find reasons to prolong that stay because your earthly desires take over, and you forget the whole reason God placed you in that season, the audacity of it all! But like the saying goes “God giveth, God taketh away!” I remember in Philippians, where Paul talked about being content in every situation, that always made me think about what made me content. It was then I realised maybe my salary was something that made me more content than it should. Was I trusting in my salary more than I was trusting in God? Was my salary becoming my idol? If God was calling me out of that pay bracket could I still be content? We all know God can bring financial blessings to our lives, but so can the enemy! Not everything good is from God, especially if it gets in the way of doing kingdom work, or spending time with Him. My job is great and I am not complaining but I have started to recognise that as I grow in my faith, my desire to do more kingdom work is growing just as fast. I believe God is highlighting to me that whatever plan He has for my life will not include my current position or salary as my job is just not flexible enough. God didn’t give me this job for it to keep me away from my calling, whatever He blesses me with will compliment it! It’s as simple as that. Now I am not saying that I am gonna quit my job tomorrow, these things call for constant prayer and wisdom, but He is showing me that whatever I had planned for my life, His plan is much better!
So I guess this is just a polite friendly warning to keep a check on the things in your life that have slowly pulled you away from God. The enemy is so crafty, he creates these distractions that seem so innocent to begin with, or he puts you in situations that seem like a blessing at the start, but it is for us to exercise wisdom and discover the schemes of the devil. The best thing to do is to stay focused on what awaits you in your Fathers kingdom, everything on earth will return to dust in the end. What good are riches on earth if we can’t take them with us when we meet Jesus in the sky?! Trust that God will give you all that you need here on earth, whether it’s plenty or just enough, trust that God knows what He is doing and will provide you with what you need when you need it, Just like Moses leading the Israelites into the wilderness with nothing, God provided for them for 40 years! They had what they needed at the time and it was just enough! Trust that God will not lead you out into the wilderness without covering you. Sometimes we all need to journey through the wilderness to get to the promise land.
MY CONVICTIONS 