I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol of anything above or on earth beneath or in the waters below”
Exodus 20:1-4
For many people, the word idol is often associated with graven images that people worship. So, if I were to ask you – are you an idol worshipper? Your answer would most probably be an absolute, No. However, idols may not necessarily be graven images but anything you have exalted in your heart above God. When we define it this way, then we realize we all have sinned idolatry.
Today, one of the greatest idols is the self. We are encouraged to seek the pleasure of self above all else. Your ultimate goal in life is your happiness. This means everything is permissible as long as it gives you pleasure and happiness. Instead of living our lives guided by the word of God, we are guided by the lusts of the flesh that war within our souls.
In Acts 17:28 we are told of God that in him we move, live and have our being. Today, many things have become how we live, move and have our being. Think of a relationship that you cherish so much or a career that you cannot live without. With time some of these things we consider as blessings can become enthroned in our hearts as idols replacing God. Something as innocent as virginity can be idolized if our identity is rooted on what we haven’t done instead of who Jesus is and the work of the cross. We may start thinking we are better than others because we have kept ourselves pure or even think our sins are not so gross to warrant the shed blood on Calvary.
Another question that helps reveal idols in your hearts is to check how you spend your time and money. Whatever, takes most of your time and resources is what you ascribe worship to. If all your energy is spent entertaining yourself, that thing is your idol. Alternatively, if you keep making statements like ‘I can’t live without this and that’ then that thing has become your idol. The biggest problem with idols is that they can’t save you or give you life. The book of 2 Samuel 5:21 has a fascinating story of David’s triumph over the Philistines. It says that David struck the Philistines with so much force that they abandoned their idols in the battleground and David’s men carried them off. What was meant to save them ended up being worthless to the point that the idols were left to save themselves (which they can’t).
The same can be said of our careers, relationships, material resources and entertainment. It can’t save you. When people die you do not see a moving truck full of their material possessions following the hearse; naked we came into this world naked we leave it. Your boyfriend/girlfriend cannot save you from the coming judgment or your career. If all these things cannot be saved then why put all your hope in them to the point, that they become the things by which we move, live and have our being? Only God is to be exalted above everything in our hearts; only in Him do we find true satisfaction. In the book of Ecclesiastes 3:11 (Amp), we are told that He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also planted eternity in men’s hearts and minds {a divinely implanted sense of purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun but God alone can satisfy}.
So, how do I kill an idol in my heart?
Repent and Worship God
Whenever Israel fell into the sin of idolatry God would often send his prophet to convict them of their sin. Most of the time their repentance was preceded by a season of difficulty whereby God would allow their enemies to defeat them. If you have a graven image that represents an idol the first step is to get rid of it. Most people do not realize that behind the idol are demonic beings expressing their nature through the idol. In the bible God tells the Israelites that it was not just to a physical idol that they sacrificed burnt offerings but to demons (Deuteronomy 32:17). It is the reason that when people succumb to idolatry, they come under the influence of the demonic spirits fueling the idol. Behind the Baal, Ashtoreth and Molech idols were demonic forces influencing a territory.
To repent is to change direction. So, once you have gotten rid of your idols turn your worship towards the one and true living God; Yahweh. You will need to renounce any covenants you made with the idol and plead the blood of Jesus over yourself. Also, get rid of the incense, books and everything that is associated with the idol. If you are not saved this would be the best time to do so as you pledge your allegiance to the lamb.
You may ask what if the idol is my career, spouse or relationship? Repentance may mean coming to the truth that only God truly satisfies and ascribing worship to him alone. To kill the idol in your heart may mean shifting your worship from the idol to God. With time you will start realizing it is only by God you live, move and have your being. More practical steps for something like entertainment are reducing the amount of time you spend on a thing and using that time on the Lord. This means instead of hours of ‘Netflix and chill’ use that time to watch sermons, listen to worship music, pray and read the word. With time you will have brought back your focus to the worship of Yahweh instead of the idol.
Submit to God
In James 4:7 we are told to submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. When we submit to God we come under his government and authority. To submit or yield is to give up one’s ideas for another. In this case, we give up what we think of life and embrace what God says. As a believer you have the Holy Spirit indwelling you. To yield/submit to the Holy Spirit is to bring yourself under his authority so that he guides your life. It is in your submission that his authority flows to you.
If you want to be free from idols then you have to bring your entire life under the authority of the Kings of kings and Lord of Lords. It is one thing to make Jesus your savior and another to make him your Lord. With Lordship, it means Jesus is your master and you are his servant. You do what he tells you. Your obedience to the promptings of the Holy Spirit is what brings you under his governance. The Kingdom of God starts now functioning in and through and you can extend that Kingdom to others. Jesus rules over a Kingdom where He is King; his kingdom is not a democracy where the popular vote carries the day. He’s not swayed by the culture of the age.
When it comes to the dealings of the Holy Spirit you will realize that the deeper you go with him, the more He requires of you. As a ‘babe’ in Christ there some things you may be excused for but as you grow you will discover that God demands more of you. This means the Holy Spirit will start exposing existing idols in your heart and as you walk in obedience more death comes to the flesh. For instance, if entertainment is an idol He may start by asking you to reduce your ‘Netflix and chill’ time from 5 hours to 2 hours. As you walk in obedience to the last instruction, He gives you a new one to not watch certain shows. At some point, you will find yourself being asked to completely let go of certain subscriptions. This is the journey of sanctification. The fruit of it is idols are dethroned in your heart and you start walking under the governance of the Holy Spirit. Your life now is characterized by holiness, purity, true repentance, fear of God and restrain.
Are there idols in your heart that the Holy Spirit is convicting you to let go of?
