Do you consider yourself an idol worshiper? Do you put trophies you have won on shelves in a prominent place? Do you buy representations of things you like and set them on your mantle? Do you ask others to join you or bring you things to worship?
We don’t consciously think about idol worship today. If we do, we think of Greek god statues or Buddha statues or maybe even Roman god statues. We don’t think of modern objects as idols. Our perspective is one of indifference or deferential or perhaps downright denial.
Though we may not offer animal sacrifices to statues as they did in the ancient world, we still have our idols. They fly under our radar because we have become accustomed to them being part of our everyday lives. Our sacrifice is the money and time we spend on them. They become our priority rather than God. We invest more of our time in them than we do with God. We spend more money on them than we give to God’s mission.
The Israelites did the same when they were assumed something had happened to Moses. They asked Aaron to make a golden calf for them to worship. They donated golden rings, earrings, and necklaces to make it. Then they offered sacrifices to it. In other words, they gave more to create the idol and made it a higher priority, putting it above God.
We are told that God is a jealous God (Exodus 34:14). He will not share nor tolerate us worshiping someone or something more than him. He desires our wholehearted worship. He loves us and desires our love in return. He stands ready to reward us, but only if we commit to worshiping him.
I pray we all commit to worshiping God. I pray we make God our top priority. I pray each one of us will give up our current day idols to worship only God with our whole heart. Give up your idols. Make God your priority. Worship him with your whole heart. Love God as he loves you.
Exodus 32:1 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”
Marty Pressey 