Idols, Idols everywhere

John Calvin famously said, "from this we gather that man's nature, so to speak, is a perpetual factory of idols."  We in the west would scoff at this quote for most of us don't have little wooden or gold statues hanging around our house.  We Christians would scoff and say that we don't have idols, we worship the true and living God. When we think this, we forget what an idol is.  An idol is anything that we place ahead of God in our hearts.  Our idol can be good things in our lives when we place them in the category of ultimate importance.

What are some of the idols that we in the church have today:

Acceptance and Approval -- when we long for the acceptance and approval of others rather than living in the acceptance and approval that God has given us we are worshipping an idol

Our Families -- when our family takes first place in our lives and put them ahead of God, our family is an idol.  "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes even his own life, he cannot be my disciple."

Our Church or Pastor, or Favorite Preacher on Television -- when we choose to believe what others tell us the Bible says rather than reading it for ourselves, we set them up as idols in our lives.  We turn to others rather than turning to God.

These are just a few but the list can go on and on.  The good news is that we are not saved by the quality of our worship for if it were, we would fail.  Our acceptance by God is based on the fact that Jesus never had an idol.  He worshipped the Lord perfectly and died in our place.  Take time to check your heart, ask God to reveal your idols.  Then turn from those idols and worship the one true God.