Last Lessons #45 - IDOLS

 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.  You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.”  Exodus 20:4-6

The second commandment is the one that most people in the western world would say that we do not break.  We do not make carved images and worship them.  When I used to visit India, what disturbed me most was the real idol worship there.  There were shrines all over the place where people worshiped carved snakes, or rats, or even phalanx symbols.  These idols were served by people bringing flowers or food to them.  I loved the people of India, but I hated the idol worship there.   

We do not have that kind of idol worship in the USA today, although there used to be totem poles that were carved idols for native Americans.  Today we have different kinds of idols.  We worship “things”.  A “some-thing” is more important to us than the one and only true God.  If we don’t have faith in God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, whom we cannot see, we look for some “thing” that we can see.  It has always been that way.  Even in the Old Testament the Israelites worshiped a golden calf as their god because they could not see the true God and his representative, Moses, was out of sight. 

Today we have made our idols respectable whether we can see them or not.  Some “respectable” idols that we cannot see are recreation, experiences, and appetites (Ephesians 5:5).  But the idols that the Bible mentions most are those we can see. Just to name a few:

Possessions

“Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Luke 12:15

Luke 12:16-21 goes on to tell us the parable Jesus told about the man who amassed possessions but lost his own soul.  He made possessions his idol.

Family

“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 10:37-39

We are to love our children.  There is probably no greater human love than the love parents have for their children.  But when we place our children above God they become our idols. 

Money

“No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”  Luke 16:13

We all need money to live, but when money becomes that for which we live, it has become our idol.  The goal of many today is to make money.  They want to make money because money gives them power.  They think that money can buy them into or out of anything they want.  They worship what money can do for them. 

One thing I have learned through the years is that my Lord will provide whatever I need to live.  (Luke 12:22-34).  My goal is to seek first his kingdom and everything I need will be added to me.  A huge lesson I learned came from reading a book called THE TREASURE PRINCIPLE by Randy Alcorn.  It’s short and easy to read and I recommend it highly.  Sometimes I have said that I want to die broke.  I mean that.  I can’t give all my money away yet because I need enough to live on for the time being, but I have made provision for my funeral, and I have made a will to give all that I own to my family and my charities.

I want to be careful about idols since what I worship now will affect my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. 

“You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.” 

I’m sure you agree.