Podcast: The Trouble with Idols

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.”
-Exodus 20:2-3

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We’re starting a series today on the Ten Commandments, and I have to say, I was very tempted to go backwards through them. Almost like a countdown. The reason is, if you get this one down, you’re not going to have an issue with the other ones.

In this commandment, God tells us, “It’s only Me up here. I checked around before creating everything and, nope, just Me. So quit worshiping other things!”

Which most people pass right over, because they don’t think it’s about them. I mean, modern America is rather nonreligious as a whole. There’s not a whole lot of worship of Belial going on.

Maybe not, but we’re still one of the most idolatrous cultures in the history of the world.

See, Romans 1 expounds on what this commandment is really talking about, and it gives us a working definition of paganism and idolatry. “They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever” (verse 25).

It’s not just about worshiping a golden statue. It’s about putting anything created above the Creator. Anything created, so that can mean women, wealth, sex, power, fame, food, or whatever.

What is first in your life? Is it God? Do this little test for me. Check your bank account and find out where your money’s going. Now, a huge chunk of your money will probably be going to rent and food. As long as it’s a reasonable amount, that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the rest of it. Are you spending your money on candy, on lavish trips, on some sort of self-promotion, on women, on lust, on luxury? Is it going to help spread the word about Jesus? Where is it going? Jesus tells us, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). Tell me where your money is going, and you’ll find your heart right there with it.

If you put God first in everything you do, you won’t have to worry about the other commandments. They’re going to come naturally to you. You will love God so much that you won’t even think about stealing, murder, or coveting.

Jesus provided our example in this. You may wonder where His heart is. Well, He gave up everything to come serve us. He, “though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:6-7). See, He had everything in heaven. He created the world, and it was all His. But He gave it up, came to earth, and died for us.

And we need it. We have all put other, meaningless things before God. We have all abandoned Him for stuff. In His justice, He can and should leave us to our own paltry lusts and be done with us. But God came in the form of a man, Jesus, and died in our place. He took the punishment we deserve.

If we repent and believe in Jesus, we will be forgiven.