Recently, I found myself in a really wonderful theological discussion. During this discussion a question came up that I have been pondering. The question was, “do we in 2018 worship idols?” and “can I support my answer with scripture?” Honestly, I don’t actually know what the answer is to this question, but I thought I would share the scriptures that did come to my mind.
The first scripture I thought of is, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’ Luke 10:27 (of course, this is quoted in each of the Gospels by Yeshua, who is quoting it from Deuteronomy 6.)
The next passage that popped into my mind was, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:8)
Now, this is my thinking. I don’t actually know if this American Christian idea of idols is scriptural or not. You know the idea, that anything you put before God is an idol.
But, what I do know is that I have a LOT of distractions in my relationship with God. So, does it really matter if it is called an idol or not, if it keeps me from loving God with all of me, then isn’t it sin all the same. Think about it. Sin is anything I think, say, or do that breaks God’s Law. The first three commandments of the “Big Ten” are all about a jealous God not wanting anything coming between His people and Him.
Sometimes we can get caught up in fun theological discussions and debates, and semantics, and I admit, I love that stuff. But bottom line. Idolatry or not, if it doesn’t bring me closer to God and His people, it probably is a selfish distraction.
Feeling challenged to get rid of distractions and fully focus on the TRUTH, HONOR, PURITY, LOVELINESS, PRAISEWORTHY, EXCELLENT, AND ADMIRABLE THINGS of YEHOVAH!
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