Who is Your First Love?
God wants to be first in our lives. Not just on Sunday mornings or when things are going well, but all of the time for all of our lives.
The warnings in the Bible are numerous. John said it like this, “Little children, keep yourself from idols (I John 5:21).
Since no human effort could represent God adequately, God forbade creating any image of Him (Exodus 20:3-5: “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;”) . This command set Israel apart from its neighbors. We, too, are called to be set apart from the world around us.
Know that God calls idolatry anything in which we put our trust for security. The psalmist exhorts us to trust in God, not in things we make. Psalms 115:4-8 says, “Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat. They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.”.
While we may not make idols with our hands, we put our trust in paper money and plastic cards. Our cars, our boats, our homes, our jobs, or our children become foremost in our thoughts. Our trust is in ourselves, our abilities, our bank account, and our jobs. Our world has become a world of everyday idols. We think more about what we can do than what God can do through us.
The Old Testament focused on the external practices of devotion; but Jesus shows us that devotion or worship is a matter of the heart. In Luke 10:38-42, the story of Martha and Mary serves as a warning against allowing good works to distract us from whole-hearted devotion to God.
Let me illustrate this with a story. The favorite wife of Shah Johan died. Full of despair, he decided to build a temple for her tomb. Her coffin was placed on a piece of land and construction began around it. As time passed, the man’s grief was overshadowed by his passion for the building. He was consumed by it; he lived for it. One day, while at the site, his leg bumped a wooden box. Brushing the dust from his leg, he ordered a worker to throw it out. The coffin was discarded, but the temple was built anyway. Could someone build a temple and forget why?
Some people come to church to worship God. Others come to be part of the congregation. They are in the same place, but one says, “What a great church,” while the other says, “What a great God.”
In Judges 17:1-13, we read that Micah totally departed from the revealed will of God concerning worship and priesthood while exalting a false priesthood. Micah steals money which he later restores. His mother makes a graven image and a molten image so Micah had a house of gods. He invited a Levite to live in his house and be a priest to him. In verse 13, we read, “Then said Micah, Now know I that the Lord will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest.” Judges 17:6 says, “In those days there was no king in Israel but every man did that which was right in his own eyes. Micah expected the blessings of the Lord because he tied his idolatry to the Levitical order. Though Micah thought he was doing the right things, he was worshipping an idol, not the Lord God.
He substituted religious practices for a personal relationship with God.
Long ago, I attended a church that had a very large and beautiful cross hanging over the baptistery. One Sunday we met in a different location and I found myself missing that cross. I sensed the Lord asking me why I missed it. He then helped me understand that I had been worshipping that cross instead of the one who died on it. What may seem right to us could be very wrong. We must seek the Lord’s direction and we must know that God rejects any idolatry, regardless of how religious or sincere the thought is.
What truly defines an idol is the place it has in your life. Anything, any person, any desire that blocks you from giving an immediate YES! to God is an idol. Whatever preempts the place in your heart that belongs to God can be called a god. Never let anything become more important to you than your pursuit of God. Even learn to guard against letting the things of God become more important than knowing God himself. We must depend on God and on God alone. Isaiah 31:1 says, “Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord!” The ways of the world may look good, but they lack the power and wisdom of God.
Set your thinking and affections on Jesus Christ and build your relationship with him. Do not allow worldly pursuits to waste your mental or emotional energy. Any distraction from God’s rule in your live causes your relationship with God to be broken. Take time right now and ask God if anything in your life is distracting you from God. Determine to accept nothing less than God’s best for your life each day. Remember the words of Luke 10:27,“…Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all they soul, and with all they strength, and with all thy mind”
We must heed 2 Chronicles 7:14 and humble ourselves before God and refuse to let other interests rule our lives. 6:12). Our call remains “seek ye first the kingdom of God” (Matthew 6:33).
Linda Folsom
