Idols - part 1

IDOL - 1.a representation or symbol of an object of worship; broadly : a false god.
2.an object of extreme devotion.
3.a false conception.

Idol, now there is a word for the modernity of today, such a word holds "old" connotations. Maybe not so old - with the hit show "American Idol," but to think of an idol as an object, seems rather obscure. When I think of an idol, I remember back as a child watching the Ten Commandments movie that came on around Easter and seeing the dramatic interpretation of the children of Israel dancing wildly around as Aaron and others melted gold and molded a golden calf for the Israelites to worship. Having grown up believing in the Lord as my Savior, I always laughed at how they could have thought a solid structure, such a the golden calf, could ever have delivered them from anything. My heart felt great sadness when I saw the Pharaoh placing his first born son, whom had died from the plague of death, in the arms of the giant blackened statue. I remember asking my dad, "Does he really believe that statue can do anything?" My dad sadly answered that "Yes, they truly believed in idols and many religions today still believe and worship them." As I grew and learned of other religions, I became more curious still how faith in an inanimate object could bring someone joy, fulfillment, or that the belief in that object could establish purpose and hope in a person's life.

Yet, somehow human beings are constantly looking to establish purpose and hope in our lives. We continually strive to "Hold Onto" an object that can bring us joy and fulfillment. All through the scriptures, God is constantly warning his people to remove themselves from the idol worshippers, to remove the idols that they worshipped and to do away with foreigner's because of their influence. And still, they never seemed satisfied to have God as their lead.... always seeking a physical idol to worship - whether that be an inanimate object or a king in headship only. They constantly worshipped what they could see and rarely what they could not. Even though God has written his law on every man's heart - our hearts are extremely wicked and our fleshly desires sometimes run over the controls of conscious placed by our Creator.

Exodus 20:4-6 "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven 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:

Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. "

The Old Testament is filled with scriptures telling God's children to do away with idol worship and those who worship idols. The New Testament continues that warning, especially with the temple worship in Ephesus and around Asia Minor. God tends to add to that warning with an attribute toward the heart. The focus shifts to a condition of the heart, and the outward pouring from that, our mouths and actions. Do we live idolatrous lives? Do we worship things, all be it, silently, quietly but fervently in our hearts? Things apart from God, apart from the worship of Him and He alone? I dare say, with sadness and conviction in my own heart, that we do. As Christians of today, we worship a mired of idols. Sometimes those idols are actual objects or people, and other times it can be the idea of something or someone - an imagination or dream.