IDOLS IN TODAY’S WORLD
GOD'S VIEW OF IDOLS
- Deuteronomy 5:7 (God zealously loves us with all His being & wants us to love Him)
- Jeremiah 1:16 ; 2:1-2, 5, 11-19, 27-29 ; 3:6-14 , 19-20 ; 4:1-2 ; 32:32-35, 38-40
(God views our idols as adultery and cheating on Him in our relationship with Him)
- "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the
Father is not in him. For everything in the world - the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes
and the boasting of what he has and does - comes not from the Father but from the world.
- I John 2:15-16
EXAMPLES OF IDOLS
- MONEY - RELIGION/ MINISTRY
- MATERIAL THINGS (HOUSES, CARS,...) - TRADITION
- PLEASURE - ACCOMPLISHMENT
- CAREER - SUCCESS
- POWER OR INFLUENCE - STATUS
- OUR OWN GOALS OR PURPOSES - POSITION
- OUR OWN IDEAS OR OPINIONS - CONTROL
- SELF (living to please self instead of living to please God)
It’s not wrong to have these things; it becomes wrong when we begin to love these things more
than we love God, and we turn to them and pursue & seek them more than God.
ARE YOU SURE THAT YOU DON'T HAVE ANY IDOLS ?
* WHAT DO YOU TREASURE AND VALUE AND DESIRE MOST ? (Matt. 6:21)
- God wants to be your treasure, since He treasures you most
* WHAT DO YOU SEEK AFTER OR PURSUE MOST? (Prov. 21:21 , Matt. 6:33)
- God wants you to PURSUE & SEEK Him first
* WHAT TAKES MOST OF YOUR TIME & FOCUS & ENERGY ? (Col. 3:1-5)
- God wants you to set your heart and mind on Him and His kingdom
* WHAT DO YOU PUT YOUR TRUST IN ? (Prov. 3:5)
- God wants you to trust in Him with all your heart
* WHAT DO YOU THINK WILL SATISFY AND FULFILL YOU? (Isaiah 55:1-3; PS. 81)
- God wants to give you ABUNDANT LIFE & fully fill and satisfy your heart & soul
* WHAT ARE SOME THINGS YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO LET GO OF ? (Phil. 3:7-9)
- you need to be willing to love and follow Jesus, whatever the cost (Luke 9:23)
* WHY DO YOU DO THE THINGS THAT YOU DO ? (I Chron. 28:9 ; Matt. 22:37-40)
- Your motives should be LOVE for God and LOVE for others
" I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord. They will be My people and I will be
their God, for they will return to Me with all their heart." - Jeremiah 24:7
"If my people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face
and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and
will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this
place." - 2 Chronicles 7:14
