Awaking Idols

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Habakkuk 2:18-20 "What profit is the image, that its maker should carve it, The molded image, a teacher of lies, That the maker of its mold should trust in it, To make mute idols? Woe to him who says to wood, 'Awake!' To silent stone, 'Arise! It shall teach!' Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, Yet in it there is no breath at all. "But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him."

What It Is Speaking to Me

Idolatry. Ancient weird statues. Irrelevant now. Right?

Nah, you and I know better.

We know and have heard many times that idols can be anything: sports, women, men, (yourself!), relationships, hobbies, TV, therapy, health, your children, your job, your bank account, politics, your marriage, and anything else that replaces attention and devotion you owe only to God. The Christian is asked, "What do you really worship?" And you think of something external from you that steals your worship.

But this verse takes even another angle on it. The search for idols should not begin outside of us, but inside of us. Because this verse describes a much more uncomfortable reality: We carve the wood. We chip the stone. We make our own idols.

Even the things that are external from us, we imbue with their idolatrous nature by our own actions and thoughts. We look at the thing and say "Awake, arise!" and it does. In our heart and mind, it is awake.

What are you shaping and molding right now in your life that could really be making an idol without you realizing it? There are many things that can get our attention in life, even good things. While we are going about our busy lives, it is good to ask the question of the things that are consuming our time: what am I calling "awake"? Could it be possible we are unintentionally shaping not a bright future, but an idol we will serve instead?

What Is It Saying to You?

What is awake in you other than the Spirit of Christ?

What wants to rise up in you that isn't of God?

What are you building? Are you sure you should be?

What Are We Going to Do About It?

Take stock of your day, then your week. What takes your time? What consumes your thoughts? Do you have an idol you weren't aware of?

You know what to do.