What Is An Idol?
Would you rather listen than read? Listen here.
What Is An Idol?
According to Merriam-Webster, it means an object of extreme devotion or a representation or symbol of an object of worship; a false god.
In a spiritual sense, an idol is anything that we would put before God.
When we think of idols, your first thought might go to the golden calf mentioned in Exodus 32:1, or you may think of the buddha you see at a Chinese restaurant. These are physical, tangible things we know we should not worship.
In junior high, my oldest daughter had a friend who was distraught over losing a necklace. We all get upset about losing precious items, but this girl seemed more upset than normal. When my daughter inquired about why she was so upset, she said was Hindu and the necklace represented her god. She believed bad things would happen to her because she lost it.
Gods We Create
What about our children, spouses, pastors, jobs, TV, pets, and so much more? Have you ever considered them as idols or false gods? Anything that comes between you and God it is an idol. In my case, many of these have been an idol at one time or another.
When Sam and I initially got engaged, he told me that God would always come first, then me, and then the church. As an inexperienced believer, this offended me. I wanted the top position in his life. He then continued to say, “To be a good husband, I have to keep God first.” It all began to make sense after that.
The closer I draw to God, the more I see what I allow to get in the way of my relationship with Him. When I recognize this, it is usually because I am wondering where God is. I feel alone and forgotten and then I realize I have slipped away from Him.
Idolizing My Kids
As a mom, it is so easy to idolize our kids. We want them to succeed at everything and become the next great… fill in the blank. We can get so focused on our desires for them, and they are good desires, but are they God’s desires? It is hard to take a step back and say, Lord, how can I help them grow into what you choose for them?
Idolizing My Desires
As I mentioned in the post, “Prophecy Today” I wanted nothing more than for God to give me a special calling. He had given my husband a calling to be a pastor. Certainly I would have something just as profound. You can read how that went here. Instead of allowing my focus to be on how God wanted to use me in the present, I had focused on how I, too, would have a call.
Idolizing Our Pastors And Mentors
We also like to idolize our pastors and mentors. One of my biggest pet peeves is when someone wants to argue a biblical point and they say, “Well, my pastor said…” I want to hear how God spoke to you. How did you come across this conviction through reading the word? Pastor’s can say powerful things and I am not saying never to quote what they say. I have just met too many people that don’t read the Bible for themselves. They place their pastor on a tall pedestal and devour what they say and not what God says.
The problem with putting people on pedestals is that the higher the pedestal, the further we set them up to fall. I had a friend that I idolized. I felt like the only time I was close to God was when I was around her. Which meant I always wanted to be around her. Like I mentioned in the post, “Reflecting Jesus,” she radiates Jesus. Well, life does not always go as planned and she ended up divorced and moved away. I heard a biased side of the story and it left me hurt. In my eyes, she had fallen and had fallen far. It took a long time for me to realize how human she was and I should have gone to God to feel close to Him and not her.
You Shall Have No Other Gods Before Me
Over thirty times from Exodus to Deuteronomy, God says not to create idols or worship other gods. The first of the ten commandments says, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Deuteronomy 5:7 NIV).
As the Israelites move towards the Promised Land, the first thing God tells them to do is to destroy all of their idols.
”Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places.” Deuteronomy 12:3 NIV
How do you know if you have created an idol?
To do this, I look at my life and see where my money goes and where I spend my time. We put our hard earned cash on the things we love. If you look at your account, are you finding payments on things that bring others up or builds the kingdom, or helps others? Or do you find the money spent on clothes, shoes, and really nice purses? Yes, we need these items, but is there a balance?
Take a peek at your calendar. Do you see areas where you spend time in worship and to grow in your faith? Do you have any time for yourself to pray or read the Bible? I believe you can pray anywhere at anytime, and you can listen to your Bible or podcasts when you are on the move, and these are fabulous, but there is something to be said for a time that is set apart for just you and God to see where He leads.
Always ask God. This is a hard question to ask because you need to be ready for any answer. Ask God to reveal to you where you might put something ahead of Him. He will show you.
There are often hidden things we allow to get in the way as well. I spend a lot of time reading my Bible and studying lately to prepare this blog and videos for the group who are reading through the Bible with me. Yes, it brings me closer to God, but I must be careful to not only be with God to prepare for others but to spend time as well just He and I.
The First Idol
We live in a world where the enemy roams and wants nothing more than to get us off track and focused on other things and not on our relationship with God. As early as the Garden of Eden, the enemy created an idol out of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam and Eve did not desire to eat from it until the enemy began enticing them with the fruit. The enemy’s tactic was to distract them from obeying God. Can you look back over your life and see where this same tactic has been used on you?
Remember, God is much bigger and desires for us to be in communion with Him. If we ask for Him to help us realign with His purpose, He most certainly will.
God desires for us to be in communion with Him. If we ask for Him to help us realign with His purpose, He most certainly will. #prayer Click To TweetPrayer
“Lord, thank you that You want to have a close relationship with each of us. Help us see areas of our life where we are allowing other things to get in our way of serving You best. We want to align with Your greater plan. As You lead the Israelites through the wilderness as a pillar of cloud and fire, guide us straight to You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”
Those idols can pop up without us realizing what we are doing. We do need to examine our thoughts and motives to determine what has the first place.
This is so beautiful, and just the message I needed to hear today! Thank you.
Such an important message, Jen. No matter how strong we think we are in our faith, the temptation of idols will occur. I identified with some of the ones you have mentioned–seeking a higher place in our spouse’s life, putting certain people on a pedestal, or focusing on our children to the extent that we drift away from our relationship with our Father. I’ve also had the experience of allowing my career to be an idol. And what about those of us striving to be a “success” as an author? You have given us much to reflect upon. Thank you!
Our bank accounts and calendars provide great insight into what we “treasure” and can reveal hidden idols. Thanks for this meaningful message.
It’s a great challenge today to be content with what we have. There are so many potential idols around us. Great message here! God bless!
Jen, you have made some excellent points and shared such personal examples that help me to more honestly evaluate myself. This kind of self-reflection must happen regularly because it is so easy to fall for idols. Thank you!