Today's Idols

"Do not make an idol for yourself, whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. You must not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the fathers' sin, to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing faithful love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commands" (Exodus 20:4-6, HCSB).

I have been thinking a lot about this 2nd of what we commonly refer to as the "Ten Commandments." I think it is easy to look at the first few of these commandments and dismiss them without a lot of deep thought because they seemingly do not apply to us. Of course we believe in God and believe that He is the one, true, and living God among us (the 1st commandment). And certainly we understand we are not to use the Lord's name in vain (the 3rd commandment). But what about this one, placed in between about idols? Does this carry application for us? And if so, how? I believe it does, and that it does perhaps, in more ways than we like to admit.

Personally, I have such an addictive nature to me. It is why I will not play video games. I don't believe video games are wrong but I believe for me it can become such because as I have played them in my past, I get so consumed with them that I forget what is most important. How many things are there in life that hinder us from walking in the light with Jesus? What things do we have going on in our lives that serve as nothing more than an obstacle in our efforts to deny ourselves and take up our crosses daily to follow our risen Savior? I believe that it is far from my (or anyone's) responsibility to answer that question for any other individual but I do think it has everything to do with our responsibility to ourselves in our daily self-examination.

Idols today can take on a plethora of forms. Paul tells us covetousness or greed is idolatry (Colossians 3:5). What are our idols today? Could it be money? Our jobs? Clothes? The latest technology? Fantasy baseball? Ouch! Now, I am meddling in my own affairs, aren't I? :-) My point is that when something becomes so important to me that it begins to take away from my responsibility to God, my family, and service to others in the kingdom, then I must take a look at it and re-evaluate what I am doing.

I hope and pray that I will always have the strength and courage to acknowledge those things in my life that prevent me from serving God. If I don't recognize these, then it makes it nearly impossible for me to lay aside that weight that so easily ensnares me. And what a tremendous freedom it is, to be able to lay those things down because we realize that it is not as important to us as our Christian service. To me, one of the more sobering passages in the New Testament is when Jesus asks in Mark 8:36-37, "What profit is it to a man if he shall gain the world, yet lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" What are we giving in exchange for our soul? Is there anything serving as an idol in your life, personally? Jesus invites you and me to lay it down and come to Him instead (Matthew 11:28-30, Hebrews 12:1-2).