Idolatry Check

Read

Exodus 20:2–6 (KJV) I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

What it is speaking to me:

Idolatry is such a Bible word. And it's such an offensive word. I mean, how would you react if someone came up to you and accused you of idolatry? I doubt you would have warm, fuzzy feelings -- I know I wouldn't.

I know growing up that I thought idolatry meant that I was replacing God with a nebulous idol -- like Zeus, or Baal, or someone like that. And maybe people still think that, because of the way they react to the word. And of course, the above would qualify as idolatry, but if you are reading this devotional, I doubt you are in danger of committing that kind of "obvious" idolatry.

But idolatry is connected to worship. How we understand worship is essential to understanding idolatry. The verses above describe worship in terms of bowing down and serving something. It is what gets your honor, your focus, your time, your energy.

• How much Netflix do you have to watch in a given week for it to be idolatry?

• How many weekend sports and weekday practices do you have to have for it to be idolatry?

• How much time has to be spent working beyond 40–50 hours for it to be idolatry?

• How much time has to be spent texting or socializing with a significant other for it to be idolatry?

• How much time has to be spent in that great cause or ministry area for it to be idolatry?

It isn't anyone's job to arbitrarily define that for you or anyone else. It is a matter of your heart. What gets our honor, our focus, our time, our energy? If we can't easily say that it is God, maybe it is time to ask ourselves a hard question: Who or what are we really worshipping right now?

What is it saying to you?

If you were able to look at your week from outside yourself, as if you were a stranger, and assess how you spent your time...what conclusion would you come to? What would that outsider say you worship based on the time, energy, and focus you give it?

What are we going to do about it?

Answer the above question, and adjust your focus this week if needed. It is easy to drift just a little off of God and onto something else. Make the adjustment back.