Examples Of 21st Century Idols.

Other than the common sins we know of: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkennes, orgies, and the like. Galatians 5:19-21, (that we need to repent of plus the other nine commandment if we are breaking them), there are other certain things we are doing (consciously or unconsciously) that as well displeases God

Exodus 20:3

“You shall have no other gods before Me”.

We read this in our Generation and it might not make a lot of sense to us but it is a sin as the worshipping of other gods/idols led the Israelites into captivity. God finally punished them after sending them prophet after prophet to warn them and to tell them to turn from their sinful ways.

We might say “we are not worshipping any other god apart from God, that we do not have any idols. I understand but in our Generation, an idol isn’t solely a carved image of someone or something one bows down to. Another meaning of an idol is something or someone we love more than God, whatever or whoever we place before God is an idol.

God made it very clear in Exodus 20:3 that we should not have any idols apart from Him for He is a jealous God -the very first commandment but the Israelites broke it on spot- what about you?

There are a lot of things we tend to make idols out of but let us look at the ones God drew my attention on:

Jobs/work: some people tend to refuge themselves in their works when they go through hardships. When they are in sorrow, when they feel lonely, they work to keep their minds off of their trouble. Ok., that doesn’t take away the problem though. Only God can. In this case, we place our jobs before God.
Alcohol: The Book of Proverbs warns against alcohol. If in times of trouble, alcohol is what we turn to, we can’t get rid of it, we just need another glass of wine, champagne or whatever it is alcoholic we are drinking. No, WE NEED TO PRAY!. Alcohol will not solve our problems, it will make things worst instead. It will destroy you as person. At the least, it bites like a serpent. Alcohol is then keep us captives.
Money: the love of Money. Some people think money will solve all of their problems. I am sorry but NO, there are certain things in life money just cannot afford to pay. For instance: the air that we breathe, the ability to wake up every morning with blood running through your veins, etc., they are given to us by Grace. We then become captives of money.
Marriage: the desire of marriage has now turned into an obsession and that obsession is our captivity. Not only are those who wish to get married obsessed but their families, especially their parents are also obsessed. We become captives of that obsession.
Career: we place our careers before God. We forget that He is the one who planted that seed in us. He is the One who gave us that dream to pursue. Once we are where we wanted and we are called to serve God, we always find excuses not to: we’ve got things to do, we are too busy, really?, who made that career possible?, who placed us there in the first place?. How about putting God first in all we do?.
Social media, especially whatsapp: That i believe is the most recent form of an idol we are worshipping in our Generation. I am not saying it is bad and we should not use it. What i am saying is that we should not have our hearts in it; it becomes a problem when our hearts are it. We are worshipping whatsapp, facebook, instagram, etc., when we spend most of our time in there. The chatting, the sending of videos, pictures, etc. If we have a problem, if we find ourselves in need, let us not connect these apps and talk to friends and families about it. Let us tell God first, at least.

God told Jeremiah that his own family he cannot trust. So, if we cannot trust our own families imagine the people we are chatting with on social media, especially whatsapp, people we haven’t seen in years and others we might never meet.

We have to realise that All these things are the deeds and plans of the enemy to divert us from the presence of God. Today, God is calling us to repentance, He is telling us to reconsider our ways and return to Him with all our hearts, with all our minds; our attention, He deserves it all. He has earned each and every inch of us.

Let us break off of us these chains the enemy has entangled us with, let us free ourselves from the captivity of the evil one and run to our Creator now.

@godsgiftltc