Exodus 20:4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below."
Have you ever thought about Idolatry as being one of your more prominent sins? Do you ever think about this second commandment in Exodus? Define Idolatry.....
Idolatry is the universal human tendency to value something or someone in a way that hinders the love and trust we owe to God.
I got that off the internet. Can you believe that? That is from an unbelievers perspective. It's funny, really, how they say a universal human tendency. Do you know what that means? It means that EVERYBODY does it. Everyone. Now, we can say, "But wait! I don't worship anything! I don't have idols! And most of all, it's NOT my most prominent sin!" Here's a quote by Mr. Ravenhill:
"The thing that you love more than you love Jesus Christ, I would suggest the one you talk about more than you talk about Jesus Christ has become an idol."
Really take a moment to think about this.
First of all, lets ask this question: Do you ever talk about God to anyone? Do you? Honestly, if someone was to talk to your friends, family, or co-workers and ask what you talk about most of the time what would they say? Well maybe if your lucky they'll say, "OH, she talks about Jesus and stuff." What percentage of how much she talks about Jesus? What have you learned from her talking about Jesus? Most likely, they won't hear much. Definitely not as much as they should. I've really been struggling with this too, and I believe that if you asked my family and friends they wouldn't be able to say anything about that. Do I talk about Jesus? No, and I say that will full regret, and I repent of it. Only now recently, in these last four blog posts have I ever talked about God this deeply. I have been terrible about this. Have YOU? Do you talk about God? Do you think about God every single day, every single minute? No, nobody does. BUT you can start. There is always a start.
In Jude our calling is to: Building up yourself on your most holy faith. That is your calling, and how can you do that with idolatry holding you down? You must search for God. And have this hunger for God. God will recognize your keen appetite for His word. Alright? He WILL. Now I found it really interesting that when Mr. Ravenhill was talking about Building yourself up on your most Holy faith, the first thing he said was 1. LOVE GOD. That includes searching for him, loving him. 2. SECOND! Is NO IDOLS. Idols is the biggest thing that will hinder you! IT WILL.
Now you may say WHAT ON EARTH IS AN IDOL??? EVERYTHING IS AN IDOL!! Everything you believe in that's not holy. Now of course you don't bow down and worship it, but your heart values it, thinks about it, wants it. So what is an Idol? Here's to name a few. See they don't have to be things. As in the first definition, you can see it can be someone. Preachers have become idols before. Mr. Ravenhill said that he met people who would go 1000 miles to see their preacher but wouldn't go to the preacher who is only 100 yards away. Obviously, that's wrong. Another example, of course, would be things. Things like movies, or media*internet. Also, people. It doesn't have to be actors or anything like that, although they are idols, it can be someone you see. It could be your parents or you siblings. Idols can be your life, just life can be your idol. You can be your idol. Your beliefs can be your idols: Your belief in certain commands can be your idol. Even good, biblical things can become idols if we aren't careful. Do we elevate anything up on a pedestal, instead of God?
So what have we summarized? Everything is an idol. Pretty much. I like Leonard Ravenhill's definition the best, but both are good.
And so, some questions for us to ask ourselves. Is Idolatry our sin? Do we talk about Jesus more than anything else? Is Idolatry more common than you expected? Are you surprised? Well, anyone can be surprised by the truth. I'm still surprised even now, even though I learned the truth hours ago. I still ask myself those questions, and I can't think what my answer would be if the the Most Holy God, came down and asked me if He was my idol; the thing I value most? IS HE YOUR IDOL?
Many of these subjects, "Do you love God?", "Prayer Warrior", and "Idolatry", they are all convicting subjects. They're challenges. I am not even good at any of these, but I can spread the truth. Listen to the truth. And search out these subjects in your own walk with God. Because HE SPEAKS. "God came for the sick and needy not those who thought they had it all. God didn't come for bad people. God didn't come into the world to make bad men good. He came into the world to make dead men live. EVERYBODYS dead."--Ravenhill.
I'll close with this quote:
"Our fellowship is with the father, son, and one another. We turn it around and put our fellowship with one another before our fellowship with Christ. God is a jealous God, you will have no other God's before me. If you want to change it, you will have no other friends before your my friend, you will love no one more than you love me. Because he says you are to love him with HEART, SOUL, AND MIGHT. Nothing left for anybody else." --Ravenhill
~hope your day is awesome
{And may everything you do be for His Glory}
--Hannah
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