Flee Idolatry
The apostle Paul writing to the Corinthian church, a church that was surrounded with idol worship and a myriad of temptations said,
“Therefore, my dear friends,
flee from idolatry.”
1 Corinthians 10:14.
At the very beginning of the Ten Commandments God states,
“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt,
out of the land of slavery.
“You shall have no other gods before me.
“You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven
above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
You shall not bow down to them or worship them;...”
Exodus 20: 2-4a.
We who live at the beginning of the twenty-first century have idols all around us. We may not consider them idols but they are. Anything that we hold in higher esteem than God is an idol.
We see our idols in the media every day. Be they fancy consumer goods. The acquisition of wealth ahead of worship of God. Even our cars, and homes.
These things may not seem like God’s after all they are inanimate objects and in and of themselves are harmless.
That was the same with the idols in Corinth. The carved statues to the Greek god’s were just stone. Harmless.
The harm comes however when we as individuals start to believe that such things have the power to change our lives. That they will give us a better life, or meaning in our life.
When we start turning to them rather than putting God first in our lives and worshipping him alone.
Matthew’s Gospel records the temptations of Christ. The third temptation was to worship Satan. Matthew’s Gospel records,
“Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.
“All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’’” Matthew 4:8-10.
Notice Jesus makes it clear,
“For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’’
As believers in Christ Jesus we as individuals need to take stock of our lives and ask ourselves if we have any idols in our lives.
Please if you consider yourself a believer in Christ think about it.
