Idols...

Idols...

During this pandemic, we are getting down to the basics...what we want, what we don’t have, what we would like to have...simplifying...more family time, more cooking apparently as shelves go bare...more tv, more family games, and as weather permits, more walking..

Toilet paper seems to be on of the biggest purchases...any brand, any size, any toilet paper...most jokes told about the shortages seem to revolve around the big TP...has it become the idol of choice in hard times?

It fits the criteria...man made, purchased at great price, prized, fought over, stored and hoarded, used with care, can’t live without, economic ramifications....

(Don’t take me wrong, I have loved the jokes...so appropriate..especially the duct tape one, or the corona dodge truck😊)

Wow, what have we come to? Worshipping toilet paper!!!

Joking aside(I think)....getting back to basics and in times of plenty, idols abound...money, economics , vehicles, people, sufficiency, country, independence, ourselves-“I”, and a myriad of other things become our idols...

The subject has been addressed numerous time throughout the 

Scriptures...

The Tower of Babel...

The Ten Commandments...

Various cultures...

Sacrifices to idols...the high places...

The golden calf during the exodus...

Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. “

Do not make any idols.

Exodus 34:14,17 

“‘Do not make idols or set up an image or a sacred stone for yourselves, and do not place a carved stone in your land to bow down before it. I am the Lord your God.

Leviticus 26:1 

For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his dwelling place.

1 Chronicles 16:25-27 

 But their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands. 

They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. 

They have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but cannot smell. 

They have hands, but cannot feel, feet, but cannot walk, nor can they utter a sound with their throats. 

Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.

Psalm 115:4-8 

With whom, then, will you compare God? 

To what image will you liken him? 

As for an idol, a metalworker casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and fashions silver chains for it. 

A person too poor to present such an offering selects wood that will not rot; they look for a skilled worker to set up an idol that will not topple. 

For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.

Isaiah 40:18-20,41:13

While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols.

Acts 17:16 

A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in a lot of business for the craftsmen there. He called them together, along with the workers in related trades, and said: “You know, my friends, that we receive a good income from this business. And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all. There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.” When they heard this, they were furious and began shouting: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 

The city clerk quieted the crowd and said: “Fellow Ephesians, doesn’t all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven?

Acts 19:24-28,35 

We are still, in all of our humanness, prone to follow after idols...we seek them everywhere...but, the bottom line is...God is who we need, whom we should seek...there is none above or beyond Him...thank YOU...

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

Deuteronomy 6:4-7

He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”

Luke 10:27 

STEP BY STEP LYRICS , Rich Mullins 

Oh God, You are my God

And I will ever praise You

Oh God, You are my God

And, I will ever praise You

I will seek You in the morning

And I will learn to

Walk in Your ways

And step by step You'll lead me

And I will follow You all of my days

Oh God, You are my God

And I will ever praise You

Oh God, You are my God

And, I will ever praise You

I will seek You in the morning

And I will learn to

Walk in Your ways

And step by step You'll lead me

And I will follow You all of my days

And I will follow You

All of my days

And I will follow You

All of my days

And step by step You'll lead me

And I will follow You all of my days