Idolatry

As a kid in sunday school and kids church, the story of the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt always frustrated me. I never understood how these people (the Israelites) could see all of these miraculous signs performed by Moses through God and still turn to Idols. The worship of Idols was HUGE in the Israelite community. It kept them from entering the promised land for 40 years, they were continually punished by God because of it, they even went so far to make a golden calf to worship, RIGHT AFTER they had just seen the presence of God come down on mount Sinai. Moses was on the mountain for 40 days, and when he came down from the mountain with 10 commandments, he saw his people worshipping and dancing around a chunk of metal! As a kid, this never made sense to me! I would find myself getting angry at the Israelites for treating God like a game that they get tired of and move onto the next game. How could they treat the One that had just removed them from bondage and slavery with such contempt?!

It wasn't until I grew up that I fully realized the story of the Israelites.When I began to think about what could possibly be going through the Israelites minds when they put their trust in metal and materials instead of God, I began to try to put myself in their shoes. These people did not grow up with technology, big jobs, in a rich nation like you and I have. The Israelites grew up in a pagan nation that served numerous gods. In the time of the Israelites, worshipping idols was entertainment as much as anything. One way to worship these idols was to go to sex shrines; where people would worship gods by having sex and participating in orgies. Worshipping idols was an entertainment to a culture that grew up with no electricity, movie theaters, bowling alleys, etc. Idol worship was entertainment. Entertainment. These people of God that were set apart for a huge part in the story being directed by God for the salvation of man; these people were worshipping ENTERTAINMENT! Yes, it was disguised by religion and idols, but down to the core of the reason behind it was pure entertainment.

Let me put this in perspective for you. Think about your life, as I think about my life. We, as followers of Christ, once lived in bondage as the Israelites did. We were in bondage to sin, we were slaves to self-gratification and flesh. Yet, God sent a redeemer to set the captive free and allowed the blind to see. Jesus came, died for us and set us free from captivity of sin. But here we are in the same shoes as the Israelites. We make God secondary to entertainment in our lives. We have witnessed his redemptive power, we have seen miracles in our lives and in our friends and families lives, just like the Israelites have seen, yet we are making idols out of entertainment and things involved with entertainment. We have seen God provide in our lives, just like the Israelites experienced provision every day from the manna that God sent from heaven. We have seen impossible situations become miracles just like the israelites when they crossed the red sea. We KNOW the power of God, we KNOW he is the truth, yet we put things above him.

Idolatry is anything that we build our lives around other than God. Idolatry is anything that takes the throne of our lives. As a kid I was so frustrated with the Israelites for worshipping things that were worthless instead of being consistent in their relationship and walk with God, but here I am just a few years later finding myself making idols out of worthless things! Basketball at one point in my life was my idol. I spent more time thinking on basketball than I did on God. Another time in my life, pornography was an idol in my life. I gave into temptation and looked at porn and severed my relationship with God for a good while, choosing to continue to bury myself in a mound of sin. Another point in my life, my family was my idol. Yes, my family. I chose spending time with my family over spending time with God. I would replace my time that I sat apart for God, and replace it with time spent with my family. Obviously, there is nothing wrong with Basketball or Family, but when they become above God, we are making them our idols. Simply put. Idolatry is alive and kicking. It has never changed, it just has different names. Instead of worshipping a golden calf, we worship money. Instead of worshipping the "god of the sun", we worship vacations. Instead of worshipping the god of love, we worship our boyfriend/girlfriend even our husband/wife. Idolatry can be anything and everything.

The word of God says in Matthew 6 to "Seek First His Kingdom and His Righteousness".

Before doing anything, seek FIRST His Kingdom. Seek First God. God is to be first in our lives. Anything can become idolatry when it takes precedence over seeking His kingdom, over seeking God. When the Israelites entered the promised land, their very first priority was to drive out the empires living in the land. They were not to leave any empire left standing. Take the time right now and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you any area in your life that is becoming an "empire" in your life.

God, forgive me for the things in my life that I have made an idol out of. Forgive me for not spending sufficient time with you. Forgive me for worshipping entertainment more than you. Holy spirit, reveal to me the areas of my life that I have placed on the throne room of my life ahead of you. If the way the Israelites treated you by worshipping idols sickened me as a kid, how much more are you sickened by it? In not just the Israelites, but with us as well. Help us to have deeper dependance on you. Help us to understand that to have an intimate relationship with you means that we have to spend extravagant time with you. This is the foundation for all relationships!

"As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God."

Psalm 42:1

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