What About Idols or Statues?

(Exodus 20:3-5) “You are to have no other gods besides me. You are not to make for yourselves an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above, or on earth below, or in the water under the earth.”
“You are not to bow down to them in worship or serve them; because I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the iniquity of the parents, to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me,”

(Isaiah 45:20) “Gather together and come; draw near and enter, your fugitives from the nations. Those who carry around their wooden idols know nothing, nor do those who keep praying to a god that cannot save. “

(Psalms 16:4a) “Those who hurry after another god will have many sorrows;”

(Colossians 3:5) “So put to death your worldly impulses: sexual sin, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry).”

I don’t know what all the thousands of gods in the world teach, but what separates the God of the Bible from the rest, is that He does not share His glory with any other god, nor does He like us to worship them. Before you decide to follow and obey Christ, you have to first reject every other god or philosophy. The God of the Bible is clear about Him hating idol worship and not helping those that practice it. He considers it as an act of hatred towards Him. However, idols are not only statues, they can also be a person, a desire, or even a way of thinking.

According to the Bible, all gods are not the same and all roads don’t lead to Rome. If we believe differently, then we are deceiving ourselves and making gods according to our own understanding, desires, and feelings. This picking and choosing the things we like about the creator of the universe is a form of idolatry.

God reveals to us that we can be worshiping idols without having a statue or a guru. Sexual sin, impurity, passions, evil desires, and greed can also be made into an idol in our lives. If there is anything or anyone in your life you cannot surrender to God, that has become an idol and you are indirectly worshipping it.

It can be a girlfriend who makes your heart grow cold towards God or a pastor that makes you depend more on him than on Christ. A hobby that takes your Sundays and part of your tithes and offerings, an addiction that makes you lose control over other areas of your life.

It can also be a business that takes time away from your dedication to your family, a financial status that will not allow you to embrace the poor or social outcast. Even your own children can become more important than God in your life.

Christ wants to be number one in your life today. He will not allow you to worship Him and at the same time listen to any other god or obey any other teaching. This is how you know if you are truly a disciple of Jesus.

Prayers
• Jesus, You are The Messenger of covenant, Servant chosen by the Lord, Commander of the army of the Lord, Our Captain.
• Thank You, Lord, that You are unique and not just another god made by man.
• Thank You that You are jealous for us and warn us against following other gods.
• Forgive us for the idol worship our forefathers practiced and help us to continue to be faithful to You.
• Forgive us for making idols and images to bow down to.
• Forgive us for making idols out of other things in our lives that take priority over you.
• We cancel right now the worship of sexual sin, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed in our lives.
• Thank You, Father, for opening our eyes to the truth in the Bible and allowing us to follow Christ as our only true God and risen Savior.
• We ask that those that worship false idols will be set free and also know Jesus as their God and Savior.
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• We ask in Jesus’ Mighty Name. Amen