“Little children (believers, dear ones), guard yourselves from idols—[false teachings, moral compromises, and anything that would take God’s place in your heart].” (1 John 5:21- Amp.)

That was how John ended his first epistle with a simple plea of warning: “Keep yourselves from idols”. An ‘idol’…in short is simply a ‘false god’, by definition, which I find to be interesting.

We see that warning woven throughout the letters of the NT, with Paul making it clear that “no idolater…has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” (Eph. 5:5) with the added promise that the ‘wrath of God comes’…upon idolaters (Col. 3:5-6; 1 Cor. 6:9-10; Rev. 21:8; 22:15)

 Have you ever found yourself reading through passages like those and thought to yourself: “Gosh…this sounds so serious”?

There’s a good reason why – - It is serious, to God!

Do you remember growing up and your parents sat you down on those rare occasions to have a ‘crucial conversation’ with you, wanting to instill some very important ‘information’ to you (as warnings) in order to teach you how actions have consequences? Perhaps you had some of those talks with your own children, wanting to instill a 'healthy fear' about something. Maybe it had to do with not touching or playing with guns that were kept in the home, or playing with fire or any number of seemingly ‘harmless’ things kids can easily get in to that could be potentially dangerous. When your teen got their driver’s license the first time…did you just toss them the keys and tell them to ‘have fun’? I think you get the idea here.

So let me say it again in case it’s not a ‘warning’ that you hear addressed often enough in your own church: God is serious about us staying away from idols, or ‘false gods’.

I think many of us have had this idea that idolatry involves ancient tribes of ‘natives’ who didn’t have a lick of sense…bowing down to rocks or statues, ‘lifeless’ things…and paying them homage and respect, as if they were ‘worshipping’ them, and thought these ‘lifeless objects’ could do things for them in return, that would bring them blessings ...or help ward off ‘curses’.

I can remember over the years hearing Protestants question why Catholics ‘worship idols’ because multiple statutes of former ‘saints’ might adorn their church buildings, surrounded by lit candles where people would go and pray to Mary, or Joseph, or whomever.

But have you ever stopped to ask yourself, or better yet…asked God…’Do you have any idols in your own life/heart… that you might not even be aware of?” Which then leads to the question of ‘What makes something, or anything…an ‘idol’? Why would some ‘uneducated’ person bow down to a rock and believe that rock could produce something beneficial to them?

Good question, right? I wonder if God ever looks down on us and asks questions like “Why are you so attached to that new car you purchased, when it’s nothing but a piece of painted steel with a bunch of parts inside that enables you to get from point A to point B? I’m not suggesting that everyone makes an ‘idol’ out of their car/truck, but a lot of people can sure get attached to them, where driving them around town gives them a sense of ‘pride’ as if they are maybe ‘better off’ than others because then can afford (or think they can afford) such a lovely assembly of metal and plastic and rubber parts.

You could replace cars with any material goods, be it clothes, jewelry, homes, etc. The list goes on and on…just ‘fill in the blank’ when it comes to things we might acquire that all of a sudden take on some added ‘value’ that might provide joy, or security, or comfort to us. Did you know your own spouse or children can become an ‘idol’ in your life? Social media can sure be a convenient place where we ‘put our idols’ on display for all the world to see, can it not? I heard some time back where a young adult teen said the reason most of their friends were not on Facebook was because it had become a place where parents go to “brag” about stuff. IYKYK.

Things like your new ‘job title’ or awards earned can fall under that canopy of ‘idolatry’, when those ‘objects’ begin to provide you something more than what God ever intended them to be in your life. And trust me, the list is long that includes such things that vie for your time and affection and attention…because of what those things bring and mean to you. I should also point out that there is a very fine line here that can easily be crossed over when we are talking about ‘things’ that God may have ‘blessed you with’…that began to take an unhealthy precedence in your life, far more than what God would have ever wanted for you.

So how might one begin to decipher…what might be an ‘idol’ in their life? Well, if someone asked you to name the first thing that comes to mind that you could not possibly ‘live without’…you might start there and examine why that would be; and I’m not talking about oxygen or water either. Which reminds me of a ‘sort of funny’ story pertaining to peanut butter cookies. I’ll tell you about it tomorrow. ;- )