THE SIN OF IDOLATRY!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY MAY 28, 2024.

SUBJECT : THE SIN OF IDOLATRY!

Memory verse: "Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!” (Mark 10 vs 23.)

READ: Job 31 vs 24 - 28:

31:24: If I have made gold my hope, or have said to fine gold, ‘You are my confidence’;

31:25: If I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gained much;

31:26: If I have observed the sun when it shines, or the moon moving in brightness;

31:27: so that my heart has been secretly enticed, and my mouth has kissed my hand:

31:28: This also would be an iniquity deserving of judgement, for I would have denied God who is above.

INTIMATION:

Idolatry is excessive admiration or adoration of someone or something. It’s someone or something which is highly revered, and becomes a deity other than God. Such deity or thing is known as an idol. Therefore, an idol is primarily an idea, fancy, or an image that represents a false God. It’s anything that substitutes for the true faith, anything that denies Christ’s full deity and humanity, and any loyalty that replaces God at the center of our life. It is also any human idea that claims to be more authoritative than the Bible, 

The corresponding Hebrew word of idol denotes vanity (things of nought). The apostle Paul called it, “nothing in the world” (First Corinthians 8 vs 4). And an idolater is one who adores or idolizes someone or something, and is a slave to the depraved ideas his idols represent.

Idolatry is sin against God because it denies the supremacy of God and is a direct violation of the first and second of the Ten Commandments of God (Exodus 20 vs 2 - 3). It’s a sin of the mind against God that denotes lack of acknowledgement of God and of gratitude to Him. Many things can take God’s place in our lives. And such things becomes idols in our lives.

Idolatry begins when people reject what they know about God. Instead of looking up to Him as the Creator and Sustainer of life, they see themselves as the center of the universe. They soon invent “gods” that are convenient projections of their own selfish ideas. These gods may be wooden figures, or they may also be goals or things we pursue, such as money, power, or possessions. They may even be misrepresentations of God Himself—making God in our own image, instead of the reverse. The common denominator here is that idolaters worship things God made rather than God Himself. 

When God is not first in your life, you are an idolater. Something then must be first in your life. Now, check yourself; Is there anything you feel you can’t live without? Is there any priority greater than God? Do you have a dream you would sacrifice everything to realize? After haven checked yourself, do you worship God or idols of your own making? 

Idolatry is making anything more important than God, and our lives are full of that temptation. Money, looks, success, reputation, security; these are today’s idols. Many “gods” entice us to turn away from God. Material possessions, dreams for the future, approval of others, emotional reactions, and vocational goals compete for our total commitment. Striving after these at the expense of our commitment to God puts our heart on created idols which is the sin of idolatry. They put away worshiping the Creator in order to worship the creation. 

We are just as guilty when God no longer holds first place in our lives. When we think more about wealth, pleasure, prestige, or material possessions than about God, we are actually worshiping them as gods.  Discipline awaits all those who continually put earthly desires above spiritual priorities.

It was for this reason that Jesus said it was very difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom of God because the rich, haven their basic physical needs met, often become self-reliant. When they feel empty, they buy something new to try to fill the void that only God can fill. Their abundance and self-sufficiency become their deficiency. The person who has everything on earth is not a sign of faith or partiality on God’s part, but rather a strong temptation to idolatry.

Job affirmed that depending on wealth for happiness is idolatry and denies the God of heaven. We excuse our society’s obsession with money and possessions as a necessary evil or”the way it works” in the modern world. But every society in every age has valued the power and prestige that money brings. True believers must purge themselves of the deep-seated desire for more power, prestige, and possessions. They must also not withhold their resources from neighbors near and far who have disparate physical needs.

To all believers the apostle Paul says, “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth; fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry:” (Colossians 3 vs 5.) “For this you know, that no fornicator, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” (Ephesians 5 vs 5.) The obsession of these aforementioned evil tendencies the apostle Paul says is idolatry.

Prayer: Abba Father, remove from me obsessions with created things, the works of man, and evil tendencies, and empower, me by Your Spirit, to live for You in righteousness and holiness without which it is impossible to see You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!