Idols

There is no doubt that idolatry is probably the most prevalent sin out there. I would argue that most everything we do is motivated either by God or my some type of idol. I would also argue that this idol is usual the good ole ME. It's ourselves. We worship for lack of better words ourselves. We are consumed with how to please ourselves, how to take care of ourselves, how to make ourselves better, and how to bring ourselves attention. This manifests itself in the pursuit of money, sex, you name it. In ancient times, idolatry worked a little different. People would (so it seems) just go out an make household gods for themselves. The story in Isaiah 44-45 is taking a cedar and using half of it to cook, etc. and the other half became an idol. The man spends hours carving it, wearing himself out, and then falls down an worships something that he just made. It sounds completely insane. I mean, we worship man-made stuff all the time (cellphoooonnnnneeee 0.o) but rarely is it something we just made. Of course, people don't really make stuff anymore. We certainly don't carve things out of wood.

The point is, we take something unholy make it into something else with our unholy hands and then act like it will save us from our life of misery. Maybe money is a good modern day example. We take cloth-paper and pass it around exchanging it for goods and services as if it has some sort of inherent value. We collect numbers in our online banking accounts to gain "wealth" which really is just numbers representing wealth we hope is there when we need it. Nobody keeps stuff that might actually be valuable because we don't need to. So instead of worshiping our fancy stuff that shows we have money (which many do) some sit around dedicating their time to getting more numbers.

The point of this probably hard-to-follow paragraphs is that God wants us. He knows we will wander away to idols - that's why it is the 1st commandment. He gave us hearts that want to follow something. Hearts that want to love something. He wants us to give those hearts to Him. He wants us to love and follow Him. But He made us with choice, so we could chose to go astray. And boy did we chose it! There are so many things to worship in our culture. I went to a school where football wasn't just very important, it was a religion. People were obsessed. We'd gather in the huge stadium to pay tribute to the team. We'd sing together. We'd watch the ritual of the game. It was a big deal. To some, football is a god. But God just shakes His head. He can prove who He is so easily. He could make Himself known. God is a jealous God, but He doesn't have to prove Himself yet. He's got time. Someday, He will reveal Himself, and some people will feel real silly. Praise God, He's fighting for our hearts even as I type (you read). He wants us. Look for His revelation. It is all over.

Lord, tear down our idols. Tear down the high places where we worship. Reveal Yourself to Your people. Open our eyes, ears, and hearts. Show Yourself to the world. I pray still for the Great Revival. I pray You would stir it up in the hearts of many. I pray You would call someone to lead us back to You. I pray for vision in Your Church to see actions. I pray still for the Muslim world as they turn to fasting and pray. I praise You for the discipline and hope and pray that You will turn it into fire for You. They almost know You, I pray that You Jesus would be revealed to them.


Amen. Amen. Amen.