Do I Serve/Have Any
Other gods?
Son of man, these men have set up idols in their
hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I let them
inquire of me at all? Ezekiel 14:3 (NIV)
Do we have other
gods than our Lord Jesus Christ? Unfortunately, all us have to answer that in
affirmation. James Packer in his book Your
Father Loves You says “For Israel there were the Canaanite Baals, those
jolly nature gods whose worship was a rampage of gluttony, drunkenness, and
ritual prostitution. For us there are still the great gods Sex, Shekels, and
Stomach (an unholy trinity constituting one god: self), and the other enslaving
trio, Pleasure, Possessions, and Position, whose worship is described as “The
lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16).
Football, the Firm, and Family are also gods for some. Indeed, the list of
other gods is endless, for anything that anyone allows to run his life becomes
his god and the claimants for this prerogative are legion.”
God defined what
he meant by idol when He told Ezekiel that an idol was anything that a person
places before Him, anything that separates a person from God and causes him or
her to stumble into iniquity (Ezekiel 14:7). Idols are not just the carved
objects that sit in pagan shrines; they are the cravings, longings, and
loyalties that rule over our hearts.
Although we
might not be bowing down before carved images, and therefore, think we are free
from idolatrous worship in our lives, the truth is that we may still be
building shrines in our hearts to something other than God.
Perhaps a few
questions might help to reveal if any objects of our affection are in danger of
replacing the priority and preeminence of God in our life. What do we get
excited about? What are we most passionate about? If we had one wish, what
would we want most? The greatest affection of a person’s heart has become their
god. Whatever a person is most loyal to, whether another person, a possession,
or a pursuit, has become a god to him or her. Anything that we love more than
God Himself should be considered an idol in our lives.
God demands
absolute loyalty. He must be our primary pursuit, our most prized possession,
our master passion, and our utmost interest. We are created to worship God, so
if we take God out of our lives, we will replace Him and worship something
else.
The Bible warns
us about replacing God for something else: “keep
away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts” (1 John 5:21).
Do not let any person, pursuit, possession, or passion become the primary focus
of our attention. Do not let our heart become more interested in something or
someone other than God. Let us resolve to keep God as our number one priority.
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