Idols Of The Heart
IDOLS OF THE HEART
When we hear the word "idol", most of us only think about a wood carving or a clay man made god. Most of us Christians are quick to dispel the notion that we serve idols. The truth however is that most of us Christians at one point in time or the other serve idols unknowingly. Not necessarily hand made idols, but idols of the heart.
In Exodus 20:3, God commanded us not to worship man made gods. However, in Ezekiel 14:3, God spoke about idols of the heart. According to the Webster's dictionary, an idol is "an object of extreme devotion" and idolatry is "immoderate attachment or devotion to something". An idol of the heart is anything in our hearts that takes the place of God in our lives. A lot of us Christians have idols of the heart we pay so much attention to. Let's take and look at five of those idols.
1. HUMAN IDOLS
Some Christians have made human beings their gods without even knowing. We have people who have taken the place of God in our lives. We adore them and cherish them more than we adore God.
2. MATERIALISM
Some of us Christians value material things more than God. We would rather spend time chasing money than spend that time with God. We have personal belongings we adore more than God. We have become excessively materialistic.
3. SELF
Interestingly, one very serious idol most of us have in our hearts is self love. There is nothing wrong with loving yourself but when you value your life more than God, you are practicing idolatry. Only God deserves the first place in our lives.
4. LUST
We are living in a world that worships sex. Sex has become a god in this world. Sex obviously comes with lust. Anytime we become so lustful that we choose lustful activities over God, we are practicing idolatry.
5. ENTERTAINMENT
There are some of us Christians who cannot switch our televisions off to go to church or pray. We follow entertainment programs more we follow God. Entertainment has become our god unknowingly. We will rather go to entertainment programs than go to the house of God.
Jesus commanded us to choose first the kingdom of God. God needs to have the first place in our lives. We need to repent from our idolatry and put God first in our lives. Our hearts need to be set to only God. Nothing must come between us and our devotion to God if we want to go to heaven one day.