Idols??

Leviticus 26:1 - You shall not make idols for yourselves; neither a carved image nor a sacred pillar shall you rear up for yourselves; nor shall you set up an engraved stone in your land, to bow down to it; for I am the LORD your God.

What is your idol? It doesn't need to be the things listed above although God is warning His people not to bow to any of those things listed. What do you put before God? Your children? Your family? Your job? Your hobbies? Your sports? Your television? Your iPhone or iPad? Your food? The list can go on. 

We can all learn from this, including me. What is the first thing we do when we arise in the morning? What's the first thought? Who's the first thought?

If our first thought is not of God, our gratefulness for yet another day that He has given us, another day to hear from Him, we have idols. He is to be the Lord our God. Tomorrow can be a new day to begin this. 

I was at a memorial service the other day. This woman lived for God in the smallest of details. The pastor said something that really impacted me. He said she was always busy doing something. A neighbor and her children attested to this. Always busy. She always maintained a calm demeanor and peace. She always had a smile on her face. Despite it all, he went on to say, she was never distracted from God. How easy it can be to become distracted from the most important part of our life. 

The pastor admitted he hasn't been able to achieve this. It was as if she just walked side by side with the Lord. If that's the case I know she was praising Him with every step she took. I myself had heard her do that. She may have been a perfect example (though she was not perfect, something she'd confessed to me a couple times!) of one not having made idols for herself. He was the Lord her God. 

She was strengthened by His might and given peace and joy in the midst of troubles. He was her Rock. She was by no means without trials. As the pastor said, He walked with her in the midst of them. (Like the three young men in the fiery furnace.) That is why she was able to withstand them. Nothing came between her and her Savior. What an example. She endured to the end and is no doubt before her Jesus now worshiping Him. [He was to her] the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” (‭Revelation‬ ‭22‬:‭13‬) 

Just as He is to be our first thought in the morning, He should be our last thought at the end of the day.

Time to tear down those idols...

Isaiah 44:8 - Do not fear, nor be afraid; have I not told you from that time, and declared it? You are My witnesses. Is there a God besides Me? Indeed there is no other Rock; I know not one.