Deuteronomy 29:17
“moreover, you have seen their abominations and their idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold, which they had with them.”
The topic of idols is a thorny one. First off, we all struggle with them in one way or another. Secondly, we can be judgmental with the struggle of others. Lastly, we need to adopt the Lord’s attitude as seeing them as abominations.
An idol is anything that captures our heart at the expense of devotion to God. We can have our hobbies, passions, dreams, goals and pursuits, it’s just we have to make them subservient to Christ. Are our pursuits interuptable? Can we pause them? Can we be like Abraham and be willing to sacrifice them?
Fasting is a way to put our desires in check. I’m not referring to food fasting, but doing without our interests for a time. If we are spending to much time or attention on them, then fasting would help.
The Lord wants us to see idols as abominations. How do we see our hobbies this way? First, we need to see that it can displace The Lord in our hearts. We should value our relationship with Christ and His place in our lives. We should be jealous for Him. These things have the potential to eclipse Him. We can enjoy them, but hate the “take over”.
This is a delicate balance. Paul gives us some insight in I Thessalonians 5:17 when he says to “pray without ceasing”. We should have an open communication with The Lord. We can sense when there’s an obstruction. That’s when the decision is made to put the task/interest aside and keep Him prominent in our hearts.
Lord, help us to keep You first in our lives. Thanks for our interests. Help us to properly balance. Help us to be jealous for You and see idols as an abomination.