Day 281

Jeremiah 10:1–11:23; Colossians 3:18–4:18; Psalm 78:56-72; Proverbs 24:28-29

IDOLATRY. IT’S AN ominous word that we’ve encountered countless times as we’ve moved through the Scriptures. We’ve read stories about it, listened to mighty condemnations of it, and witnessed the repercussions of it. But now that we’re moving through the prophetic books, we can’t escape it. This can seem disconcerting because idolatry isn’t a part of typical conversation in our modern era.

Idolatry is essentially the worship of idols. Today, Jeremiah gave us a very fitting description of what that looked like in his time:

They cut down a tree, and a craftsman carves an idol. They decorate it with gold and silver and then fasten it securely with hammer and nails so it won’t fall over. Their gods are like helpless scarecrows in a cucumber field! They cannot speak, and they need to be carried because they cannot walk.

Most of us could look at a description like that and breathe a sigh of relief because we have never created an idol of this nature, and we would never conceive of worshiping such a thing. However, the issue wasn’t so much the physicality of the idol. It was the expectation of life and blessing that the idol (or god) could give if worshiped.

With that in mind, just about anything could be an idol. If we expect our lives to be ultimately sustained in any other way than through our relationship with God, then we are creating an idol that cannot talk, see, or walk —and expecting it to bring us life.

Idolatry isn’t an issue that makes God nervous about His own sovereignty. No matter what we worship, there is only one God. But our worship of what is false will keep us from Him. We will both miss out on the most precious and essential thing —a relationship. This is heartbreaking and will only destroy us.

Let’s consider this in a more personal way: If our sweet little child one day informed us that we are no longer her parents, we would certainly find this hurtful and troubling. If we then found out that she had taken a stuffed animal and built a shrine for it out of toys in the closet, believing that it had become her true parent, we would be alarmed —especially since we lovingly provided all those toys, including the stuffed animal. If our child then stopped communicating with us altogether and carried the stuffed animal around, believing that it would parent her, we would probably call in mental-health professionals because something very wrong was happening.

We would still be her true parents. Even though the child had given affection and allegiance to something false, she would still be created in our image. Of course, our hearts would be broken and we would do everything possible to pull her back to us.

In essence, this is God’s position toward idolatry. “Return to me,” God will say, pleading over and over. The alternative is a path that leads to destruction.

Let’s consider today the things we are turning to for life —things that we’re trusting in that have no power to save us. When we do this, we are betraying our true source of life. This is contrary to the way we were created. It is foreign to who we really are. And as we will continue to see in the writings of the prophets, it will get us nowhere.

MEDITATION:

LORD, there is no one like you! For you are great, and your name is full of power. Who would not fear you, O King of nations? That title belongs to you alone! Among all the wise people of the earth and in all the kingdoms of the world, there is no one like you.