“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, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and
keep My commandments.” (Exod.
20:3-6)
“One of the scribes came and heard them
arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him,
‘What commandment is the foremost of all?’ Jesus answered, ‘The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all
your heart, and with all your soul,
and with all your mind, and with all your
strength.’” (Mk. 12:28-30)
God
is absolutely clear about who is supposed to receive our complete and total
allegiance and fealty—God and God alone. The reason for this exclusivity is
that there is but one God in existence in all of the universe. It is the God of
the Holy Bible, the God of Israel. So, if He is doing a solo act, He possesses
the authority to “call the shots”, to tell His creation, those who exist at His
sole pleasure, that they do not have the license to go forth and create with
their own imaginations gods or deities of their own personal designs.
Yet,
as humans, sinners that we are, we rebel against God’s directives and go our
own way, thinking that we know best about life and people. We develop philosophies
of thought that are in direct contradiction to the teachings of God’s Word,
while not weighing the consequences of doing so. Thus, it should not be
surprising when rebellious humans “reap the whirlwind” of justice, when not
only do our best-laid plans and schemes ultimately fail, but also that the
instruments of God Himself are rallied against us as well as all forms of
idolatry.
With
all of this in mind, one would think, “How in the world would a professed
believer in Christ ever open himself/herself up to even the possibility of
falling into idolatry?” Those who have succumbed to its poison do not realize
just how powerful and subtle the hold it has over them. How many times did
Israel fall prey to idols and, yet, still believe herself to be faithful to
Jehovah? Do we recall Aaron’s words regarding the golden calf that he fashioned
for the people of the Covenant at their insistence? “—"This is your god, O
Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt” (rf. Ex. 32:4). We are so
easily mislead.
I
share this with you as a warning from a shepherd to the sheep. The gods of this
age are many: self, money/greed, jobs/career, children, luxury, play/enjoyment,
etc. If these largely intangible gods were physical realities like the
substantial idols of old (or those in the Near East), many Christians would
have a house full, like Micah (rf. Jg. 17:1-5 [5]). Indeed, the largest (and
most popular) of the present-day gods, political correctness, would have its
own suitable statue in each yard awaiting its desired human sacrifices, much
akin to its ancient predecessor, Molech (rf. Lv. 20:1-5; Jer. 32:35).
God
is serious about wanting our complete and total devotion. Jesus’ death, burial
and resurrection does not give us grace in order to gain eternity in heaven
just to pursue our idols of lust while on earth (rf. Rom. 6). Jesus means for
us to be absolute committed to Him as His disciples and followers. This means
having no other gods in our lives but Him. Is that absolutely true for your
life?
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