Idols?

What do you think of when you think of idols? There are many examples of idols all throughout Scripture such as the 450 prophets of baal and their idols, the golden calf, and the many examples of sacrifices made to idols, etc. However, we rarely think about things in our lives that we have made into idols. The Scriptures are clear about loving God. The greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, mind, strength, and soul (Matthew 22:37-39). If you love God, you'll obey His commands (John 14:15). Do we mistakenly make things in our lives idols?

Timothy Keller says, "We think idols are bad things, but that is almost never the case. The greater the good, the more likely we are to expect that it can satisfy our deepest needs and hopes. Anything can serve as a counterfeit god, especially the very best things in life." Did you catch that last sentence...anything?? Idols are anything that are more important to you than God; anything that you seek to satisfy the needs that only God can meet. Idols are rarely bad things. They are usually good things in our lives but we have replaced our love for God with them. You see, God doesn't just want half your heart. He also though, doesn't want you to be miserable. He gives us many things that are enjoyable and make life more pleasurable, but when those things take over and we focus more on them, we remove God from the equation. God blesses us with many relationships, but do those relationships drive you and are you more focused on pleasing the other person than you are in pleasing God? God blesses us with success, but does success drive you to want more of it that your focus then turns from God to power? God blesses us with money, but does the love of money cause you to turn your focus from giving God the first portion of every blessing you receive?

In reality, many of us have idols in our lives right now that we are not aware of. They remove our focus from God and from seeking Him in all we do. Hebrews 12:1-3 tells us to throw off everything that hinders us from growing more in love with God and honoring Him. Romans 1:25 says, "They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen." We must remove all idols from our lives. The longer they stay, the harder it is to remove them. The longer they stay, the harder it is to continue to walk faithfully with God...Pastor Steven Furtick says, "Who cares if you learn a new principle if the old ones you’re still living by contradict it?"