Forsaking Idols

 When we think of idols, often we think of little graven statues of some kind that people around the world worship in their false religions. Yes, those are idols, and they should not be worshipped. However, we can be worshiping idols today without having any of those types statues. Let me explain the definition of an idol. An idol is anything to which we give our time, energy, or money, because we believe by doing that we will have our needs met by that thing. Money is an idol for some people, and they spend a lot of time and energy to make money, thinking it will cause them to be happy. Sports and recreation are idols to people, because they engage in them to get enjoyment and pleasure, instead of being dependent on the Lord Jesus to meet those needs. I could go on and on, but you get the picture. In Moses's day the people were worshiping goat idols. (Leviticus 17:7) Moses commanded them to stop offering sacrifices to these idols thinking their lives would be better for worshiping them. He made this an eternal command from one generation to the next because there are always idols around that could take us away from the Lord.

So, we need to examine our lives to see the things we are doing to make us feel better or to make us more prosperous and happy. Then, we need to confess those things to the Lord. We need to sincerely tell Him that we have sinned against Him by worshiping something that is so inferior to Him, it would be like a goat compared to Him. We need to turn to Him to meet all of our needs, not anyone or anything else. If we do that, He will see our heart, and He will meet those needs in the best way possible. Our lives will be so much better than before. Yes, we can still enjoy sports and recreation, we can still use our money to do fun things, as long we are not depending on those things instead of the Lord. Believe me, if we worship idols of any kind, God is going to be angry with us for insulting Him, and He will not be able to bless us with His peace and joy. That is what we need.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Leviticus 18-21.