Idol : a representation or symbol of an object of worship; broadly : a false god
Well that is pretty clear and so is this….
Exo 20:4-5 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,
Lev 26:1 “You shall not make idols for yourselves or erect an image or pillar, and you shall not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the LORD your God.
Ok, So that pretty well covers it, right? So why then are there still people on this planet who call themselves Christian or followers of Jesus/Yeshua or that they believe in God who still do these horrible things? Setting up idols? Making shrines and beautiful gardens into which to put their idols? They visit these idols and pray to them,light candles and incense and lay flowers at their feet or even the unfathomable –they kiss the feet of the statue!! They travel with their statues and the statutes travel between homes of the devoted flowers. They have special feast days to celebrate their idols and days to beat themselves up in shame for not loving their idols more.
Are ya getting as picture here? Are ya telling yourself that you do not have any statues of dead people in your home, so you are not included in my chiding? Really now?
Did Yahweh just direct against statues? Or was there something else? Oh, yes!! Worship! Service!
So what is worship..
Reverent honor and homage paid to god or a sacred personage, or to any object regarded as sacred. Formal or ceremonious rendering of such honor and homage: adoring reverence or regard.
Seriously folks, if you feel any of the above or do any of the above for anyone or anything other than the Creator of the Universe, the Holy One of Israel you are participating in idol worship. But if you do not claim to be a part of His family or to be His Bride, the above verses from Scripture do not apply to you.
Have a nice life!
Now unfortunately the justification and rationalizing gets really thick. But I have a really awesome tool to clear the air of the lies. Do you follow Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel? or do you follow men and their traditions? Pretty clear!
Anything, any person, any anything that gets more attention, more time, more money, more effort spent on than what time you spend with your Heavenly Bridegroom is an idol. Read that again!
Now if you come back with “I do not have the free time to be running around with my bible open all day. I have a full time job and children to raise and a house to keep and a ministry to maintain….” Did Jesus/Yeshua ever tell his disciples to exhaust themselves with running here and there? Did he tell everyone…”Follow me and get your own ministry to maintain”? We are called to baptize and make disciples. Disciples, mind you, not converts not members not missionaries. Disciples. But that is for another day…
So are your idols actual statues? Is it your marriage? Your job? Your ministry? Your church? Is it scrapbooking? or community service? or food? Maybe it is a sport or a TV show. Is your TV your altar of worship?
Now I am not advocating you shoot your TV, just cut off the cable, hehehe. But I am asking you to evaluate your spending of your precious time every day. Who/what gets your first and best? Your treadmill? Your computer? Shouldn’t your Savior get your best and your first hours of your day? Shouldn’t your heart long to spend your idle minutes talking with him and not gossiping with your neighbor? If we are sold out for Him and devoted followers living our lives as sacrifices of praise shouldn’t that be evident in our daily management of our time? or is that just for fellowship times of corporate worship?
What idols are in your life that need to be removed and burned down? If you are truly a child of the Living Elohim then you may have some house cleaning to do. Re read the verses I posted. I could have posted more but I wanted to you to examine your heart. A multitude of verses will not change a hardened heart. If you choose to keep your idols, that is your choice. But let me just give you one more verse..
Gal 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
