Idols

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Exodus 20:2 (NKJV) “You shall have no other gods before Me.

The title of this blog may seem harsh, and many of you may choose to ignore it.  But the scripture reference is very serious.  Exodus 20:2 is the first commandment in the list of Ten Commandments.  Consider this: when God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses, the first commandment addressed the relationship between God and man.  God was saying, “If you want to have a relationship with me, then don’t try to put so-called ‘other’ gods in place of me.”

You may say, “Yeah, but that was the Old Testament, and we Christians are not bound by the laws of the Old Testament.”  Oh Really?  Ok, look at this:

Mark 12:30 (NKJV) “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.”

The Pharisees of the New Testament tried to trick Jesus regarding all the commandments written (which are now in the order of over 600 Jewish laws); which one is the most important or the first commandment?  Jesus knocked the ball out of the park by summarizing the first four commands into one, which focuses on our relationship with God.  In other words, God the Father is the one who we should love.

Today, it is very easy to get distracted and have other gods that replace our time with God the Father. It is so serious that God tells us to flee from Idolatry.  Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you have Idolatry under control by saying, “I don’t worship any idols!  I’m a Christian! I go to church!” Really? Why do you think God says to flee (turn and run frantically away)?  Because Idolatry looks appealing.  Idolatry focuses on how you feel.  It appeals to your soul.  It looks peaceful and tranquil. The outcome of Idolatry benefits you.  So what is Idolatry?

Anything you put in place of God that you give most of your time, attention, and energy towards is an idol.

Idols can even be a good thing that you place in the wrong position.  If you are doing a bunch of activities first and putting God last, or whenever you get around to it, you have idols in your life.

• When you wake up in the morning, do you speak to God, asking Him for direction? Or do you check your cell phone for messages, Instagram, or TikTok videos?
• Are you spending time working on projects at home instead of spending time worshiping God?
• Are you rushing through your prayer time just so that you can catch a TV program?
• Are you working on a ton of ministry projects at church to satisfy your conscience in serving the Lord instead of getting alone with God to worship Him?

Trust me; I, too, am guilty of the things above and a lot of other things.  Jesus clearly stated to His disciples that during judgment, many people would be crying to Him, saying, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your Name, cast out demons in Your Name, and done many wonders in Your Name?” But Jesus will say, depart, for I never knew you.  What Jesus is saying is that the most important thing you will ever have with God is a relationship with Him.  Jesus is saying you spent all your time doing other things on your own terms, within your own time, thinking that it was “good enough,” but you never surrendered yourself on God’s terms.  Remember, it is not your works that make you righteous to spend time with God.  It is the righteousness of Jesus that gets imparted to you that makes you righteous.

God wants your heart. He wants all of you, not your leftovers, or whenever you get around to spending time with Him.

How do you flee from Idolatry?

1. Recognize what is fighting for God’s time – what is taking up your time from spending time with God?
2. Humble Yourself and Confess to God what it is – Ask God for forgiveness in placing other things first before Him.
3. Let it go and release it – Even if it hurts.  Your flesh will crave what you used to do. I’m not saying to stop everything and do nothing.  This is about perspective and priority.  Nothing that you give up for God will ever be wasted.  God isn’t trying to take joy and happiness away from you.  In God’s presence (spending time with Him alone), there is the fullness of joy. (Psalm 16:11) God is trying to free you from the stuff that is separating you from Him. The more time you spend time with God, the more you will desire to spend time with Him. If you are involved with actually saying prayers to statues, meditating with crystals, or burning sage as a form of meditation, it is demonic and a lie from Satan.  Renounce it immediately and get it out of your house!
4. Refocus on God – Fill the space with worship and prayer by spending time alone with Him.  Put God first in everything you do. Then, reprioritize the rest of your activities.

Don’t try to convince yourself that you don’t have any idolatry issues as long as you show up at church.  The amount of time that you pray, worship, and read the Bible is a direct correlation to your relationship with God.  I’m not talking about you praying with others at church, although that is a good thing to do.  I’m not talking about singing praise and worship at church or singing along to a Christian song while riding in your car, which is also a good thing to do.  And I’m not talking about reading the Bible during church service or at Bible Study with a group of people, which is also very good to do.  Here is what God wants you to see:

1. Pray alone to Him – because prayer is communication directly with God, and He has things to share with you.
2. Worship Him – Worship is the most powerful way of connecting to God.  Many stories in the Bible show the benefits of worship.  Worshiping God connects your spirit to His Spirit.  When you worship God, you must worship Him in spirit. (John 4:24)
3. Read the Bible – Did you know that one of the ways God speaks to us is from His written word?  Every word in the Bible is God-breathed (inspired) by Him alone.  If you struggle reading the Bible, not knowing where to start, staying focused, or having the desire to read, ask God for help.  The more you read the Bible, the more the desire to read the Bible will grow in your spirit.
4. Be Still and Know – This is another way of saying, “Shut up and listen for and to His Voice.”  Many people say God doesn’t speak.  But that is very far from the truth.  God’s voice is shouting out to us from the streets (Proverbs 1:20).  Our problem is that we will not turn our hearts to Him.  I.e., we have idols in the way.

Proverbs 1:24 (NLT): “I called you so often, but you wouldn’t come.  I reached out to you, but you paid no attention.”

Stop trying to do things on your own and reach out to God for help.  Ask God to show you where the idols are in your life.  What is taking up time in place of spending time with Him?  Jesus frequently separated himself from His disciples to go pray.  He went to the mountains to isolate himself from distractions.  Jesus spent time teaching His disciples, healing the sick, confronting the Pharisees, and making Himself to thousands of people.  Although Jesus was tired, He still made time to be alone to fellowship with God.  Even His disciples began to notice how often He prayed, to the point where they pulled Jesus aside and asked Him to teach them how to pray.  What did Jesus say about praying?

Matthew 6:5-8 (NLT) “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again.  Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!

I will conclude with this scripture, which has blessed me tremendously.  King David opened up his heart to God and commanded his spirit to worship the Lord.

Psalm 103:1, 2 (NLT) Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me.

Be Blessed!

Ron

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