Keep Yourselves From Idols

Sometimes, when certain things happen to a person, beneath it is the presence of an idol. A lot of people have one, two or more idols in their lives. An idol is a lot much more than a shrine. It can be enshrined into people. Meaning, an idol is beyond the presence of a shrine somewhere; it could exit in the mind or heart of man. Inversely, a man could be his own idol or someone else idol. Largely, the presence of an idol in a man’s life may be unknown to him.

Rarely will a man keep or worship an idol he does not like. Love for something is the basis for idolatry and worship. Idolatry starts with an attraction. You are attracted to what you idolize and worship. God loves us profusely and His love enjoins our abstinence from idols. Our love life reveals the presence or absence of an idol(s) in our lives. The first commandment from God to man is to abstain from other gods. God is unhappy with idolatry. To hold on to idolatry is to be joined with idols. Idols destroy and separate a man from God. Idolatry incurs God’s wrath. Exo 32:4, Hos 4:17

1 John 4:4 You are of God, little children, and you have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

1 John 3:16  By this we have known the love of God, because He laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

Exo 20:2-5 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

You shall have no other gods before Me.

You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.

You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me. (NASB)

1 Cor 10:5-7 But with many of them God was not well pleased, for they were scattered in the wilderness.

And these things were our examples, that we should not be lusters after evil, as they also lusted.

Nor should we be idolaters, even as some of them, as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.”

The following people sinned due to the presence of an idol in their lives:

1. Judas Iscariot sold his master Jesus for the idol of greed. Matt 26:15-16.
2. Samson fell for the idol of lust (Delilah). Judges 16:4-18.
3. Solomon fell for the idol of sex and women. 1 King 11:3-4.
4. Eli fell for the love of his children. 1 Sam 3:11-14.

WHAT IS AN IDOL?

1. An idol is whatever takes precedence over God in your life e.g. food, sleep, children, money, car, sex, power, e.t.c. Phil3:19.
2. An idol is whatever takes sacrifices from you that you cannot give to God.
3. An idol is whatever you love so much that you don’t mind offending God.

EPITOME OF AN IDOLATER

Luke 12:15-21 And He said to them, Watch and keep yourselves from covetousness. For a man’s life is not in the abundance of the things which he possesses.

And He spoke a parable to them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully.

And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room in which to store my fruits?

And he said, I will do this. I will pull down my barns and build bigger ones, and I will store all my fruits and my goods there.

And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat drink and be merry.

But God said to him, Fool! This night your soul shall be required of you, then whose shall be those things which you have prepared?

So is he who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.

The idol in the life of the subject in the scripture above is the “I” idol. He attributed this I factor to himself, twelve times, signifying the pompous idolatrous glorification of self.

1 Tim 6:10-11 For the love of money is a root of all evils, of which some having lusted after, they were seduced from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

But you, O man of God, flee these things and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and meekness.

An idol starts from the human thought, expressed in words and deeds, and it’s worshipped by man. God insist that He should come first and be the number one in our lives. If God is not the first in your life, then He is not there, whatever the other position you place.

HOW TO LOVE GOD AND KEEP YOURSELF FROM IDOLS?

1. You must love what, who and where He loves. 2 Chron 19:2.
2. You must hate what, who and where He hates. Ps 97:10, 1 John 2:15.
3. You must love the person of God: His attributes, acts and people. 1 John 3:16

THE POWER OF LOVING GOD

1. When you love God, you know Him more and He is revealed to you. You will be filled with the knowledge of Christ. Ps 25:14.
2. Loving God reveals your true value to you. It places value on you.
3. Loving God means to come to the class of God. It brings you to the level of God.
4. It will make you zealous for the things of God.
5. It will help you to break your love for sin. Gen 39:9, Ps 51:4.
6. Blessings flow into your life. Job 22:21-29.

CONCLUSION

A life without the love of God is incomplete and may end up been useless. Anything that squeezes God out of your life may end up squeezing life out of you. Not to love God is invariably saying there is no God. It also means there is no God-content, or synonymously, the absence of God in one’s life. When you love God you will love others also. You will have His fullness, and you will obey Him

God bless you.