America is a land where we are free to worship who or what we want and this has caused us to succumb to idols. There is even a show on television called “American Idol” that people follow religiously. People act as if their lives depend on which contestant gets sent home each week. However, it doesn’t begin or end with TV shows. If we are honest with ourselves, we all have idols in our lives. When you ask most people what comes to mind when you say the word “idol,” they will probably suggest a statue or deity.
An idol is anything that you put before God. These idols can be cell phones, video games, money, sports, friends, family, and oneself. Personally, I have had issues with most of these at one point or another in life–particularly, sports. People can tell you the exact scores of high school football games but have problems telling you where Malachi is located in the Bible. (It’s the last book of the Old Testament.) It’s really noticeable on Sunday morning when the pastor is rolling on and the Colts play in thirty minutes and people start to leave or shift in their seats, as though the game is more important than the Word of God.
God doesn’t ask much of us except total surrender and to love Him above all else. God should always be first in our lives and not sitting on the back burner as a Sunday morning routine. God is twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, three-hundred and sixty-five days a year. We ask ourselves where the world has gone. We’ve taken God off the throne and exalted ourselves and our idols instead.
This mentality carries through to future generations and causes destruction. A good example of this is in the book of Jonah where God was merciful to the wicked city of Ninevah and chose to save it. Two books later, the people of Ninevah return to their wicked ways and are destroyed.
Our idols are slowly pulling us away from God. What idols are in your life? What idols do you need to leave? Will you continue to place yourself or your idols on God’s throne? Will America’s God be the God of Abraham or something else?
Written by Jonathan Parrish
Edited by Jamie Calhoun
Walking with Christ Daily 