Day 5 - Deuteronomy

I'm going to go out on a wild limb, here -- you've never made an idol and lit a little candle and had a worship service right in your living room.  Now, some have.  Some have idols from other religions in their house because of their family backgrounds.  Some have them as decorations.  The Bible says an idol like that is not really a god at all.  It's just a piece of wood or metal.  And, I'm not sure He's cool about them being used for decorations.  This is what He says in Deuteronomy 4:15-19.

¹⁵ You saw no form of any kind the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, ¹⁶ so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, ¹⁷ or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air,¹⁸ or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below. ¹⁹ And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars—all the heavenly array— not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the Lord your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.

I don't think our problems are with wood and metal figurines.  I think our problems are creating little gods and idols out of the things in life that end up taking over our worlds:  money, career, popularity, relationships, success, sports, hobbies, our children, pride, possessions, and, oh, well, it can be just about anything.  Did you catch the end of verse 15:  "Watch yourselves very carefully."  We have to watch ourselves.  It's so easy to fall prey to the distractions of the world until they literally become like gods.  They end up running our schedules and our lives and our decisions and our spending and our thoughts.  It happens slowly and seductively.  Here's how you know if something is becoming and idol:

• It is taking me farther from Christ instead of closer to Him.
• It is preventing me from worshiping.
• I want it more than I want intimacy with Jesus.
• It is putting a wedge between me and my most devout Jesus-following friends.
• It makes me happier than spending time with God in church or alone.
• It is starting to force me to compromise my values.
• To continue pursuing it, I'm going to have to be less committed to Jesus and His mission.

Whew, that's some heavy stuff.  If you answered, "Yes" to a few too many of those, be encouraged.  In Christ, you can always turn around.  Take a step back toward Jesus before something that is becoming an idol becomes a full-blown god.  And if you've already jumped the shark, repent, and make Jesus a priority.  Everyone is welcomed back in the family of God.  The reason this is so important?  That idol or god didn't create you, doesn't really love you and surely didn't die for you.  But there is a God who did all those things, and He has a plan for you, and if He's going to be 'all in' to see that plan come to life, He needs you and me to be 'all in' with Him.