Hosea 13:2
Now they sin more and more;
they make idols for themselves from their silver,
cleverly fashioned images,
all of them the work of craftsmen.
It is said of these people,
“They offer human sacrifices!
They kiss calf-idols!”

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What is an idol?
Anything that takes the place of God in your life.
Anything you love or trust more than God.
Anything you count on to save you or ultimately satisfy you.
Anything about which you say to yourself, "If I have this then I'll be happy, and if I lose this I'll be miserable."

Examples: Money, Comfort, Beauty, Career, Kids, Marriage, Travel, Politics

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Isaiah 44:6-23
- vs. 9 - blind
- There is this willful blindness of the idol maker
- How can he not see how foolish to pray to it “save me”
- vs. 20 – a deluded heart misleads him…he cannot say, is not this thing in my right hand a lie?
- vs 8 – no other Rock
- vs 21-23 – remember…redeemer

A forgetting of God as their rock, rescuer and redeemer has taken place.
They are worshipping something that is clearly finite.
An almost willful blindness.

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Jeremiah 2:11-13
11 Has a nation ever changed its gods?
(Yet they are not gods at all.)
But my people have exchanged their glorious God
for worthless idols.
12 Be appalled at this, you heavens,
and shudder with great horror,”
declares the Lord.
13 “My people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken me,
the spring of living water,
and have dug their own cisterns,
broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

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When we have idols in our lives we have cut ourselves off from "living water" and we will feel these effects in our lives.

When you worship idols you’re guaranteed to be let down by them because you’re putting the weight of your life onto something that cannot hold it up. Something that can’t ultimately save or satisfy.

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How to diagnose your idol?
David Clarkson – 17th century minister had a great checklist. Below is a brief summary, but look him up for a complete breakdown of each one.

Esteem: What do you value more than God?
Mindfulness: Frequently thinking about something more than God.
Intention: Aiming to please or serve something more than God.
Resolution: Being more determined to follow something other than God.
Love: Loving something more than God.
Trust: Relying on something more than God.
Fear: Fearing something more than God.
Hope: Hoping in something more than God.
Desire: Desiring something more than God.
Delight: Taking more pleasure in something than in God.
Zeal: Being more passionate about something than God.
Gratitude: Being more thankful for something than for God.
Sorrow: Being more distressed by the loss of something than by offending God.

Some other great questions:
- What are you disappointed with?
- What do you complain about?
- What do you sacrifice your time and money for?

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How do you stop worshipping idols?

Need to replace them.
It’s a heart issue. It’s a love issue.
You have to replace them with your love for God, your trust for God.
If you don’t cultivate that love and trust you will find an idol will always take his place on the throne of your heart.

1 Thessalonians 1:8-9
8 The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9 for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God...

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To read the full story from C.S. Lewis' The Great Divorce that I told at the end of the sermon go here ->
https://thedarkduchess.blog/2023/03/01/the-great-divorce-cs-lewis/