Keep Yourself From Idols
I’m reading a book right now that, in theory, is really interesting but ends up being frustrating. It’s about a long journey through the mountains, but the author only goes into great detail about the boring bits. He gives a one-line teaser about a story that sounds WAY more interesting than what he’s talking about, and then goes back to the dry discourse.
Weirdly enough it got me thinking back to the first life group I was ever a part of (stay with me!). We read 1 John through the whole semester and, this being the first book of the Bible I’d read, I was surprised when we got to the end because it felt like it had nothing to do with the rest of the piece.
1 John 5:21 Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.
If you’re not familiar with 1 John I’ll give you a quick summary. John writes a beautiful letter centering on God’s love for us, our love for God, and how that must lead to us loving one another. He concludes the letter with a dense paragraph on prayer, a reaffirmation of Christ’s power, and then this little line that seems to have little to do with what came before.
And yet what a commandment! If this were all the author chose to write, we could still spend a lifetime wrestling with its implications and applying it to our stories!
To worship an idol is to set a created thing above the ultimate Creator. It is to place one’s trust in something other than the Lord God. In the Old Testament worshipping an idol was frequently referred to as spiritual adultery. God’s people made a commitment to worship Him alone, but when they gave in to the temptation to worship idols, it was like they were cheating on God.
When I read this as a new Christian I didn’t think I needed to worry about it. After all, I don’t have any statues to bow down to or sacred images to pray toward. But I soon learned that you don’t need a statue to worship an idol. When I place my trust in my own abilities, or expect a skill or money to solve my problems, or even make my whole identity about my relationships with other people, I’m engaging in idolatry just the same.
As we begin a new semester, I think it’s easy to slip into worshipping idols we meant to leave behind last May. We get sucked into the rhythm of campus and the culture around us and pretty soon, we’re trusting in our academics and connections to lead us to the good life.
But the scriptures paint a different picture of what life could be like. God alone can lead us to ‘life and life to the full’ (John 10:10). He knows who we are, He knows what we need, and He knows when we need it. The reason 1 John ends with such an emphatic warning against idolatry is because it is so easy to fall into. We so quickly rush toward what we want that we miss God’s warnings, promptings, and provision.
Yet when we listen and give Him our full allegiance, we get to experience all that He has for us. God loves us too much to allow us to go on trusting things that will never satisfy like He does. Our idolatry will end in frustration in our personal lives and relationships. Allegiance to God, however, leads to blessing because of His deep love for us.
This semester, fight as hard as you can to put your main trust in the Lord. Work hard and diligently, put yourself out there for new opportunities, but invest your best time in your devotional life (alone and in community!) so that you remember who it is that ultimately provides, leads, guides, and rescues. Keep yourself from idols so that you can experience true life given from God.
