What is Idolatry before God?
“Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?” –Ezekiel 14:3
According to the Scripture above, God will not hear our requests if we have an idol or idols in our hearts. What is an idol in the eyes of God? One example of idolatry in the Bible happened during the time of Moses when he went up Mount Sinai to get the commandments of God and the Israelites made a golden calf to worship:
“And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” (Exo 32:1-4).
The Israelites had to make their own god so that they can see what they were worshipping; an idol is something the visible eyes can see which replaces the position of God in the hearts of men.
In our generation today, an idol is not just in a form of man-made statue that one could worship. Anything that takes the place of God first in our hearts and minds is an idol – ministry, jobs, family, spouse, worldly music, celebrities, etc. These things can become first in our lives without us even knowing and only the Holy Spirit can reveal it to us.
When my spouse and I weren’t married yet, I didn’t know that I was in an idolatrous relationship with him. I was overly jealous and possessive towards him which made me suffer inwardly. I never really knew the reason why I was acting that way but it was a doorway in my life. Then I stumbled upon an article which wrote about idolatry and I was really surprised that your relationship with others can be a form of idolatry before God if he or she is taking the place of God in your life. I knew it was the Holy Spirit who revealed it to me and I was delivered from such sin. I repented before God and since then things started to become a lot better especially that God is now first place in my heart.
How about you? If you will honestly re-evaluate your heart, do you think there is an idol or idols in your life? What are the things that are taking first place in your life before God? If you are unsure, you may ask the Holy Spirit to reveal them to you. When you close the door of idolatry in your life, believe me, breakthrough will come to you!
“Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Ps 139:23-24)
