What's Your Golden Calf? Confronting Idolatry预览

THE ABC'S OF IDOLATRY

Money was the first thing on his mind upon awakening and the last thing he thought about before falling asleep. He dreamt about it and, yes,  you could even say he worshiped it.  When he got his first taste of money, he curated a palate that desired only the best. To possess the fastest sports cars, the most luxurious mansions, and the best champagne money could buy were his "raison d'etre," his reason for being. Cash is king, and he treasured it in his heart. It had become his 21st-century idol.

What exactly is an idol, and how do we define idolatry? What did idols look like in Biblical times, and what do they look like today? According to the Meriam-Webster dictionary, an idol is an object of extreme devotion, a representation or symbol of an object of worship. Broadly, an idol is a false god, an imposter, a visible form without life. Idolatry is the worship of such an item as a god.

An idol can be anything, such as money in the above example, that becomes a reverence focus higher than God. Jesus, in His Sermon on the Mount, tells us that we cannot serve two masters. We cannot serve both God and money. Often, we don't recognize the things we put on a pedestal and worship, because they look different from those the Israelites submitted to in the Old Testament. Today's idols aren't Asherah polls or images made of stone, wood, or metal.  They can be anything that takes God's place as the most important focus and priority in your life. 

I'm not saying that we shouldn't want certain things or strive towards goals. I am saying that we have to be careful not to prioritize them in our hearts and minds, leaving no room for God. Whatever we treasure in our hearts more than God becomes an idol that dulls our spiritual hearing and hardens our hearts to Him. God specifically tells us not to make idols or erect images to bow down to because He is the Lord your God. When the things of this world seduce us to the point where they become indispensable in our lives, that's idolatry. What are you making more important than God in your life? Is it money, your career, your appearance, material things? If you're not sure, remember the ABC's of Idolatry:

Anything worshiped above God 

Belief in inanimate objects 

Counterfeit Gods revered

Willy Wiedmann's illustration represents Ecclesiastes 2:8 and shows King Solomon's amassed pleasures. "I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem as well—the delights of a man’s heart." 

All pictures in this plan are from the Wiedmann Bible ART Edition, a collection of 3,333 hand-painted illustrations of the Old and New Testament by German artist Willy Wiedmann (1928-2013).