It's All the Same!

For they provoked Him to anger with their high places, And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images. (Ps 78:58)

From the moment they made that calf the people of Israel suffered from one of the first cases of idolatry ever. All throughout the old testament they were bowing and worshipping this god or that god, constantly offending their God who had saved them, brought them out of slavery provided them with a land of their own, sustained them, and supplied their every need. Gods of wood, gods of stone, any kind of god, it didn't matter to them, they always found something to put before their Almighty, All knowing, All powerful God, whom they only ever turned to when they were in desperate need and it became apparent that their idols couldn't do what they needed done. And I can't help but wonder how many of us are doing the same thing today, 2000+ years later.

And before we say, "I haven't bowed down to any other God." Understand that while we may have not physically bowed ourselves to a wooden or stone statue; if there is something we put before God, something more important in our live than him, something that takes out focus and time away from the one who delivered is from the penalty of death, then we have definitely bowed in our hearts and indulged in idolatry and our idolatry is no different than the Israelites worshiping any number of the graven images they sought out regularly. Whether it's money, possessions, your job, your family, yourself, lust, pride, hate, anger, whatever it might me; if we put it before God, it is an idol in our life. And I know that many people who have these idols in their lives will dispute, some rather vehemently, what I have asserted and there is a reason for that.

To acknowledge what I have said as accurate, that these things are really idols in our lives, means to acknowledge that we are indulging in sin. This acknowledgement then produces an expectation of confession of the sin, repentance from the sin which is not a mere turning away from the sin more so a changing of one's mind in regards to the sin, and then, through the power provided by the Holy Spirit, giving up the sin all together. And therein lies the problem. These things that become idols in our lives are not always things people want to give up. Why? Because they make us feel good. They comfort us, they shield us , they protect us in certain instances, but mostly, people don't want to give them up because we love the "pleasure, the "joy", and all the other euphoric feelings they provide us with.

I once heard a man named Kim Costanza preach these words during a sermon. "I have never tasted a sin I didn't like!" How true those words have to be, because neither have I, and I'm sure if you will look inside yourself and think of all the "sins of choice you may have or have had you will agree also. These things feel so good that I believe we sometimes convince ourselves that God can't provide the same kind of feeling our idols do. Well I am here to dispel that myth right now. The feelings you get from indulging in your idols , which separate you from God, are nothing compared to the ones God can and will provide once we are willing to remove all of the idols form our lives and put him first at all times. I've had many idols in my life and I have enjoyed every one of them but when I began to allow God the chance to remove them and the great, or what I thought were great, feelings from my life, and he started to replace them with himself, I realized that all those feelings my idols provided were nothing compared to what my God had for me.

God can and will do the same for you, in fact he is waiting to, we just have to afford him the opportunity to do it. Today, if you are willing to admit that you have an idol or idols in your life and you want them removed, drop to your knees and beseech your God for h is mighty hand and delivering power. Confess your idol or idols to him, repent of the sin that the idols are and the sins they have led you to commit, and all the Lord to remove them from your life, because in and of yourself you are not strong enough to be rid of them. And as he does this, see if you don't begin to realize how much better your comfort, joy, peace, enjoyment, and everything else in your life feels when your God, who is there for you forever, is providing as opposed to some idol which can only provide those feelings on a momentary basis.

I implore everyone who reads this to heed the words I have written and examine ourselves. If idols are discovered during that examination then get rid of it. And please, when the idol is discovered, don't let your flesh convince you that it's really not an idol and therefore it's not something you have to be rid of, because that is a lie. If you put it before your God, and only you can know if you do that, it is an idol. Whether it be a wooden statue or a bank account, if it's where your heart is , it's all the same, it's an idol. Today let's get rid of the idols in our lives so that we can stop provoking God to anger and moving him to jealousy.

Prayer for the day: Creator God, when you made us you created us to be your people and worship only you. Instead we turn from you and put idols in your place. Give us the courage to confess our failures and our idols to you and fill us with your love and your peace. In the name of Jesus our Lord, Amen.