Day 1: Identifying the Idols
“Idol” can feel like such a heavy word sometimes. The story of the Golden Calf is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of the word “idol.” With that in mind, it may be hard to see what kind of idols we need to be identifying… I mean, I don’t have any cows made of gold lying around in my house, do you? Unfortunately, it may not be as easy for us to identify the idols in our lives. Let’s walk through what an idol is so that we can identify them.
Pastor and theologian Tim Keller once said that an idol is “anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give.” Basically, an idol is anything that stands in the way of living a life wholly surrendered to God. These don’t necessarily need to be bad things; some can be great when you find the right balance. For example, making friends is fantastic, but when you are more concerned about growing closer to them than your Heavenly Father, it becomes an idol.
While you have been reading this, there may have been some things in your life that you identified as idols. Maybe, though, it isn’t that clear to you. That’s what can make this hard—there is no flashing neon sign reading “IDOL ALERT” that can always point them out.
Some of them are physical things that are easy to see in our lives:
Then some things are harder to see because they are more mental idols:
There is always more we could think of, but now it is time for you to self-reflect. This isn’t a one-size-fits-all situation; your biggest idol will likely differ from mine. The one thing all idols have in common, though, is that they don’t deserve the attention we are giving them. In Exodus 20, God tells us, “You shall have no other gods before me” (verse 3). That attention, the kind we so often give to other things, is only for God.
Matthew 6:33 reminds us to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness….” This is the life our Good Father has intended for us. We are excited to walk through this week with you, but first, let’s take today to identify our idols.
Questions to Consider:
Written by Kate