When I was younger, I thought gods (or idols) were an old testament thing. I actually remember thinking to myself how lucky we were not to have to worry about that commandment. No golden lambs in my house, so I was good to go. You can imagine the look on my face when I had that "ah ha" moment.
I am pretty sure I said a bad word.
The idea that I was worshiping things was beyond my scope of reason. And if I were honest with myself, I had more than one god in my life. Anything that I put before God is an idol. So let's see here, where do I begin?
job...check
kids...check
exercise...check
things...check
money to buy the things...double check
I even really liked me some craft stores. I'm not sure this was a genuine idol, but for todays illustration...check
At one point, I can honestly say that I believed in God, I knew Jesus died for my sins, but I was a Sunday morning Christian.
Sunday morning Christians have a lot of idols.
So here I am in 2014. Are all of my idols are gone? Nope, although I do have the craft store thing under control.
I think what helps me the most is that I have kind of learned what the red flags are for me. If I have to defend the action...it could be an idol. If I look at the bank summary and see too many expenditures...it could be an idol. And if it becomes the rule and not the exception, it might be an idol.
Idols never completely go away. Except for maybe Mother Teresa. I wonder if they had craft stores in Calcutta???
