"A good thing that becomes the primary thing immediately becomes an immoral thing." Pulling Back the Shades by Gresh and Slattery
Ezekiel 14: 6-8 "...Thus says the Lord God: Repent, turn away from your idols...Anyone who separates himself from Me and sets up his idols in his heart...I will set My face against that man...Then you shall know that I am the Lord."
How many times a day I break the first commandment: "You shall have no other gods before Me." Exodus 20:3. In many ways we all break this commandment.
My heart serves me, loves me, prefers me before all others. I try to cover it up from you by serving you, loving you, preferring you; but God sees that it is still about me. I have an idol and it is me!
I am the statue of gold that I want everyone to praise and look at fondly, and say nice things about me. When I make a noticeable blunder that can not be hidden from you like speaking out of turn in a group gathering, or feeding a baby food that she is allergic to, I mope around for days.
When I mope or worry, or refuse to forgive, I am saying I am more important than God...my needs, my wishes, my will. I am separating myself from God, and God won't have it.
He is in the business of revealing our hearts to us, our little "idol-making factory" hearts. He will do what He must to turn our hearts back to Him, because only in Him will we find our joy and safety and peace. Even if He must set His face against us, it is only that we might know Him as Lord of our hearts.
Once we recognize our "me idol" worship we must immediately repent, turn away from self and come running to Christ. His grace never fails and is freshly available moment by moment.
Timothy Keller, author and pastor, said an idol is anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God. What absorbs your heart these days? May God help us all to have no other gods before Him.
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