[The first commandment.]
I'm not a "list person", but I know some people who will write lists for pretty much any occasion. For whatever reason, certain things just gnaw at you until you write them down in sequence. So I've heard. :)
As every list serves a purpose--whether important information to keep in order, or just to clear the list-maker's brain of clutter-y things--I can pretty much figure that each list would begin with some thing from on the forefront of their mind; something of priority to them. After all, you don't just start with the shopping list with the things which aren't needed for the recipe you have in mind, or begin the to-do list with the least necessary things. You start from the basics, the needs.
Try to ask yourself for a moment, "What would be the single most important thing to the Almighty Creator, if he were to create a list of importance?" Would you attempt to design some glimpse of it with your own imagination?
Or would you assume just not think about it?
No matter. Lucky for us, God wrote those things down for us a long time ago, and they are just as true now as they were when he wrote them. We can define our roles, in regard to his greatest "lists" of direction for us, based on clear instructions from his Word.
To be clear, they definitely are rules for our lives, not mere suggestions. In the case of his commandments, for instance, it would be considered more of a "Things-NOT-to-do" sort of list.
God does give us a choice. Obey or not, they remain the same. He remains the same. His wrath and decrees also remain the same today as they did back then. You can disobey, but if you do the consequences are far greater, and deeply out-weigh, the advantages we may temporarily gain by ignoring Him. Sure, you can self-indulge and pretend He never warned you, but it remains the same that He has indeed warned.
In view of all of the above, how does this first commandment apply to a modern-day believer who isn't necessarily going out and creating or worshiping idols in their backyard, or joining a local cult?
I'm not putting myself on a pedestal by any means when I say that I am definitely not about to worship another god other than my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, or by saying that I honestly would never consider joining a cult.
Does that put me above a believer who has experienced or thought about either of those things? Absolutely not. But then how do I apply this in my life?
I'm not sure how certain this theory is, but it's my thought that in today's world, in our American culture, in my own home, there are more opportunities to commit idolatry than in nearly any pagan biblical culture we read about in God's word. Why? Because we have about fivehundredbazillion more forms of distractions than any of the people then ever did. Sure they had plenty, more than was good for them, obviously. But look around you; in my own living room (okay, technically my brother's house, so HIS living room) I see about a hundred things which I could easily become more interested in, at any given moment, than in knowing my heavenly Father more. How pathetic my human mind is. I can be so aware of God's goodness, I can understand for a moment my tiny grasp on how wonderful and great He is, and the next moment I can actually feel it all slipping away, because I am suddenly more interested in something else to satiate me instantly.
As Paul explains it in Romans 7:15, "I don't really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don't do it. Instead, I do what I hate.
Every thing in this life can be used as a tool for good or for bad.
Some interests and desires have absolutely nothing wrong with them, until they become something we say we can't let go of.
Our gratification in this lifetime is so temporary and faint in comparison to God's kingdom awaiting us, and yet we can feel so enthralled with something that it consumes us.
In moderation, what you like, what you do, what you feel, what you think--with the assumption that it, whatever "it" is, does not disregard Scriptural truth--is certainly not bad. God is happy in our pleasure from every blessing and and opportunity he allows us to have in this lifetime. (Ecclesiastes!)
However, "God's voice will never tell us to engage in any activity or relationship that is inconsistent with the Holy Scriptures." *Charles Stanley
Much attention to balance and discretion is required of us in order to fully appreciate & obey God's will in these things.
As with any good thing,
too much is never enough,
and too much of a good thing is never a good thing.
Idolatry, then, to the modern-day believer, is not in the simplistic and generalized form of golden statues placed on the mantel above a family's fire place. It doesn't stay with just a few narrowed down options; maybe a picture of a person's hero hung by the staircase which they look at everyday for good luck, or a clock in the shape of the sun, or a cow, or some random thing of nature, hanging on the kitchen wall, and to which someone prays on a daily basis, or any other form of superstitious imagery. While those things are by all means unnecessary, and even if they weren't, could very well become excessive--We cannot stop there and say, "I don't do those things, so I have never committed idolatry."
Look inside yourself and be as honest as you can about every thing in your life that consumes your thoughts, your heart, & your attention; is it all God-honoring, biblical, & self-less?
Not to discourage, but it can't all be. Our human nature won't allow it, and the Bible tells us that no one except God is righteous.
Idolatry in our lives could be, and is,
anything.
Anything we put above, or before God.
People, relationships, friendships, habits you build with certain people, emotions towards certain people; these can be blessings in our lives, but can also blind us into reverence towards the wrong outlets of our adoration. Something that could be called "accidental idolatry", but in my opinion, holds us up to just as much responsibility as any other form of distraction, if not more
.
Passions, interests, careers, wealth, possessions, studies, intelligence--All can become consuming distractions in our life through personal greed and ease of comfort. (Along with billions of other things! ...Hey, what do 'ya know, I just made some lists.)
Matthew 6:24 says that "No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."
Romans 1:18-32 is one of the best descriptions of completely inexcusable idolatry, and punishment of abandonment, indifference, confusion, and what seemed to be injustice to those being persecuted, based on that sin. It's a tough passage to read, so I narrowed in on one particular verse, which I felt sort of summed up the paragraph.
Verse 25 says, "They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen."
Colossians 3:5b says, "Don't be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world."
If at some point you would regard any of those things listed above (but obviously not limited to those things) as higher priority than building your relationship with Jesus Christ, listening to the Holy Spirit, or worshiping the Father, you have undoubtedly discovered how easily idolatry can find you, burn you, and blind you.
Idolatry is not just acts of worship towards objects, idolatry is attitude, feelings, and thoughts which are tinged with obsessiveness; Actions out-lined with disregard for God and more interest in self-desire than in changing into who God wants you to be. To esteem something you want, or want to do, as more entertaining or necessary than what God has already out-lined for you as appropriate, is to commit idolatry against the name of the one true God.
It is no mystery to me why God would warn us about this issue first on his list for us. He must know something about the tricks of our sinful nature, combined with the skillful tactic's of Satan, which even the obviousness of this warning doesn't show us. Maybe He's protecting us from the full-knowledge of it, or maybe we are just not capable of comprehending the magnitude of His hand in our lives in order to spare us from those conniving intentions Satan would have for us instead. Either way, to take for granted the simplicity of what God has offered us, to forsake his warnings for our own greed, is just about the worst move we could make. God is (or should be) the single most important part of our life here on earth. He doesn't share us, he doesn't want to or have to. He is the only God, nothing and no one else deserves our adoration more. One huge reason behind His command to have no other gods before Him is so that we will simply understand that He is IT. You don't need anything beyond Him.
He is my one and only.
Is He yours?
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