another thought about the devo regarding idol worship

I'm just curious what people think are "idols". American Idols come to mind...yes, that's the show that Brenda and I watch fairly often (it started up again this week). But what are the idols that exist in our lives today? In Exodus, the Israelites formed an idol to worship when Moses didn't return as quickly as they wanted. So they melted their gold and Aaron formed an idol in the image of a calf.

Now, none of us are rich enough to do that...to melt gold and make our own idol for worship purposes. But, society has actually provided us plenty of "objects" for idol worship. Sometimes, we think idol worship has to be some physical object that we gaze upon and adore (like for some, it's a fancy shiny car, for others, it's their cell phones/iPod). I think one possible way to determine for yourself what are the "idols" in your life that you might be "worshiping" right now is this...ask yourself, "...what are the things in my life that I spend a lot of time thinking about or focusing my energy on." That's one definition of "worship".

So...possible idols that I could be worshiping instead of God are: my online eBay business, my family, my tv shows (i.e. 24, Heroes, Smallville, Star Wars Clone wars cartoons, cooking shows), playing softball, being in shape, work, even busy "doing things at church".

Some other possible idols that I've seen that are common to middle/high school/college agers and even adults are: the search for that special guy/girl, anything that is suppose to make you look better on the outside (but does nothing for your personality on the inside) so that you can GET that guy/girl (cool clothes, shoes, accessories like head bands/ear rings/jewelry, makeup), the latest/greatest electronic gadgets, a car, watching online videos (K-dramas/youtube?), social "networking" (myspace, facebook), listening to music, reading the latest fashion magazines or gossip mags, romance novels, school activities...the list can go on and on and I'm sure you can add to it.

These things that we spend our time in is not all bad. God gives us things for enjoyment. But what is bad is when any one or more of these things take over as the #1 priority in our lives, replacing God. If we examine our lives, can we honestly say that there is nothing there that we're doing that has replaced God? Maybe we've been doing some of these things but we've still managed to keep God number one. But over time, as we focus partial time on the idols on our lives, we allow Satan to gain a foothold into our lives...first enters one toe, then another, and then another, then a foot, then both feet...and then the rest of Satan starts to enter and take over our lives...to the point where we're fully worshiping the idols in our lives without even knowing it and have dropped God by the wasteside. Satan is very subtle...because the idols we worship seem like ordinary things that everyone else is enjoying in...but that's what Satan wants you and I to think.

2 Corinthians 10: 4-6 says "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete." Idol worship is about the battle for our minds. What our mind is thinking of...that's where our worship is. Because once someone has control of the mind, the rest of the body follows along. So take captive of your thought life...examine what are the things you are allowing to go into your mind...is it garbage or is it the excellent things that God tells us to dwell on?

Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brothers, 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." This was one passage that was a Sunday School memory verse during my college years. God teaches us to focus/think about the true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy things...not the garbage that Satan is dishing out in the world. Why worship garbage when you can worship the only praiseworthy being in the universe?

I wrote this blog today because as I think about the middle/high school/college agers in our church, I feel sorry that Satan seems to have a foothold in some of your lives (yes, all of you are constantly on my mind...as I believe that's the purpose God has given me in life). Some of you seem to struggle regularly with personal worth and identity. Some of you don't even know you're worshiping idols...just because your pre-Christian school friends are all doing it. The joyful Christian life is available for all of us...but so many of us have allowed the ways of the world to pollute our minds which then infects the heart and every other part of the body. My prayer is that God's power will break those bonds of idol worship amongst our youths. When that happens, even more amazing and greater things can happen through all of you...things that you can not even imagine. It takes faith to live for God alone and not to succumb to the pressures of the world/your peers...but for those who remain strong and faithful, what awaits you on the other side will BLOW YOUR MINDS! As one of you have wrote regularly, it would be even be more "mind boggling" than anything you can comprehend...and I believe it can happen when more of you chose to worship God and God alone!