Idols are anything you put before God. Do not raise up a temple of false stuff. There is only one God.
“Do not turn to idols or make metal gods for yourselves. I am the Lord your God.”
Leviticus 19:4
Idols, according to Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary are ideas or fancies, images that represent a false god. Paul referred to them as ‘vain things’.
Christians like most people get caught up in “things”. Our goal is to strive for things such as careers, lavish homes, furniture, and clothes. We want to be seen wearing the most fashionable clothes, attending the popular gatherings, and hanging around the ‘right’ people. These things only become the vain things when they are put before God. Vain things become more important than God and thus rival for His attention. When we begin to cling to those things that become our primary focus, we no longer focus on God’s love for us. Jonah 2:8 says,
“Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them.” Worthless idols also include acts of the flesh,
“The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
Galatians 5:19-21
Social media is a vain thing. We have become obsessed with social media, we spend hours on social media. It supplants otherworldly things. It’s been reported that it can consume most of our waking hours and interferes with our other vain idols. Society has reached a point where it is easy to become addicted to social media and the fleshly things it advertises.
Advertising is pervasive and is in our face, so to speak. We cannot avoid seeing or hearing about the things of the flesh on television, the Internet, and all forms of the airways. Our desire to acquire them take on their own form. We will do anything to acquire them. We will sell our souls for the things of the flesh, the things that make us stand out above all others. We become driven and before we know it we displace our reverence and respect for God for these fleshly things.
“They continued to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—idols that can neither see nor hear nor walk!”
Revelations 9:20
We have no time to pray, no desire to go to church, no interest in learning the Word of God or establishing a relationship with Him, there is simply no time. God becomes our fire insurance, the only time we spend with Him is when a crisis occurs, most often a crisis created by striving for vain things.
If and when we reach this point, we need to pray to God for repentance, ask Him to give us strength in placing Him first in our lives and relegate the things of this world to their place. It is not wrong to want things or to strive for success. It is a sin when it becomes a hindrance to our prayer lives and becomes more important than our God.
Images – Google Images
Scripture – Biblegateway.com; BibleStudytools.com
Resource – Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary, page 316
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