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Don't Take Kindly To Idols!

Don’t take kindly to idols!

We’re not talking American Idol here, you know the talent contest on TV.  We’re talking an idol that is an image or representation of a god.

And we’re also not talking some cute little touristy thing you buy in an open air market that is a caricature of some god of folklore origins.  We’re talking an idol that has grabbed and imprisoned your heart!

Maybe we should see it from God’s perspective:  “…they rejected my rules and did not walk in my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols.  (Ez 20:16)

That classic definition of an idol definitely fits here, that is, an image or representation of a god used as an object of worship.  Instead of worshipping the one true God, they rejected Him and they went after their idols.

But that’s not even the worst of it.  Earlier in Ezekiel, God said this:  “Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their hearts, and set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces. Should I indeed let myself be consulted by them?”  (Ez 14:3)

Instead of taking the Almighty God into their hearts, they opted to take idols into their hearts.  And this just isn’t the organ that just pumps blood around but the heart, as in the emotional or moral nature of man. 

In a recent post, I wrote about God setting eternity in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11).  This eternity in our hearts is designed by God to prompt us to seek Him.  When we take idols into our hearts, we are certainly not engaged in seeking God! 

And what is described in Ezekiel 14:3, is a conundrum of major proportions.  After taking idols into their hearts, it appears that they presumed that they could still consult with the one true God.  Perhaps they thought they were covering all their bases when they needed help.  But, by taking idols into their hearts, they turned to impotent gods and rejected the one true God who was the source of all that they needed.

For me to write that we should be careful about what we take into our heart seems almost superfluous.  Yet I feel I must still write it to remind us to be so very, very careful!

  

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