IDOLS....What Are You Holding Onto?

When reading through the Holy Scriptures (and by that I mean the "old" Testament - remember that the Messiah, His disciples and the early church did not have anything else except the "old" Holy Scriptures) it is easy to realize that YHWH hates idols of any sort.

This is what He said to the Hebrews at Mt. Sinai when giving them the commandments.

Exodus 20:3 “You have no other mighty ones against My face.
Exodus 20:4 “You do not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of that which is in the heavens above, or which is in the earth beneath, or which is in the waters under the earth,
Exodus 20:5 you do not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, יהוה your Elohim am a jealous Ěl, visiting the crookedness of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
Exodus 20:6 but showing kindness to thousands, to those who love Me and guard My commands.

So the first command, out of the approximately 600 commands, is one about idol worship. About putting YHWH first and not having anyone or anything else that would come before Him in our lives.

So to me that says it must be pretty important to Him. Reading further into the Holy Scriptures, and remembering what He did to those who ignored this command, makes me realize that this is something that I need to be constantly on watch for in my own life.

As I lay awake this morning I reflected on those things I hold dear in my life. Was I holding them higher than my Elohim? I went down the list and one by one made a mental note that (1) I only had that person or thing because of His blessing and that I would not have it if it were not for Him blessing me with it, (2) that I could never put it as more important than He is to me and (3) was anything I had in my life contrary to His Word?

What are the things that we tend to make idols out of? Well, of course it varies from person to person, and each person is going to have their own "statues". Whether it is a car, or love of watching sports, or collecting things, or food, or money, or being on the computer or whatever. Where is s.a.tan tempting you to put something or someone in front of YHWH?

I recently read in the book of Jasher (one of the books of the apocyrpha) the detailed account of Abraham and Issac on Mt. Moriah (which is also told in Genesis). As much as Abraham loved Issac and as long as he waited for him to be born he was still willing to obey YHWH and put YHWH's wishes first over Abraham's love for his son. Issac was not an idol even though Abraham loved him very much.

I believe that is a good test to use for anything that we hold dear or that we spend time with. Would we give it up if He asked us? OK, so you say yes of course I would but He has never come to me like he went to Abraham to tell me to stop.

Yes that is the tough thing in these days. We don't get that personal one on one chat time with YHWH. However He did leave us His Word and His Word is filled with examples and explanations of things just like this. Problem is that most people don't read His Word. They just get snippets from the pulput on those days they decided to attend the weekly service.

This is my third point. Am I doing anything that goes against His Word?

Just yesterday there was a conversation about Christmas and it being an idol for people. The people in the group were offended that they should give up their Christmas. When told that everything about it was pagan in origin, they still clung to their traditions. Christmas had become an idol to them (and a very pagan one at that) and even though all through the Word YHWH says to put it away they refuse to see and obey. The excuses are the same old ones. We have changed it to worship Jesus. (They don't even use His true Hebrew name but the pagan one given to Him by the Greeks to match their god's name). As I have said in this blog before, no man can take something and make it holy or use it for worship unless YHWH has done it first. It is not our right to do that.

Moreover, when He specifically says that something is pagan and not to do it, we have no right to try and make it into something godly and good and holy and righteous.

It is not easy to go against the world and all of the paganism in it. It's much easier to go with the flow. That flow is called the wide path in the Word. And those that are on it are destined to end up in a place where they truly don't want to go.

It is a lonely place to be, on the narrow path. No one arounds you understands and even worse, they will say mean and horrible things to you for walking away from those things they keep as idols. Remember it is human nature to keep others in the same place we are to make ourselves feel better about what we are doing. You see this with food, sports, money and many other things.

What keeps me going is staying in His Word. Every day, several times a day and especially before I go to sleep. I read and then meditate on what I read and fall asleep with His Word on my mind and in my heart. It gives me peace about the things that are going on around me. It gives me peace about being lonely. I'm not really alone. I have Him.

In conclusion please look at your life through the eyes of YHWH and His Holy Scripture and ask yourself if there is any idol worship in your life. If there is, no matter what it costs you, pluck it out and throw it away. I promise you that it will be worth it in the end to obey Him no matter what.

P.S. If you would like more information on the lost books of the bible and the apocrypha please visit www.thelostbooks.com