Good morning everyone, MB here again. Today I bring to you a tough question that God himself has presented to me through prayer many times:

Are you worshiping an idol?

This post here is meant to be an introspective look at ourselves.

I’m not asking you to answer that question in the comments; instead, I’m asking you to answer it in your heart and mind and bring your answer to God in prayer.

Before I can speak about this with you, though, I first have to define that word, idol.

In a biblical context, the word idol is defined as:  

“physical objects or images that are worshiped or revered as gods. In a modern context: it refers to something that you are choosing before choosing God.”

What does that look like?

When you wake up in the morning, what do you do first? Do you pray and thank God for another day or do you pick up your phone and check your messages?

If you pick up your phone and check your messages, your phone has become your idol.

When you are angry and you need to vent, do you go to God in prayer and ask for his help, or do you turn on the TV to calm yourself down?

If you turn on the TV to calm yourself down the TV has become your idol.

At the beginning of the week, when it is time to give your tithe to God, do you give 10% or more of your earnings for that week before you buy or pay off anything else?

Or do you do that after you’ve got all your financial ducks in a row?

If you do your duty in paying your bills first, your bills have become your idol.

With this line of questions and answers I’m hoping to show you that an idol is anything that you put ahead of God — whether you choose to or it’s just habit.

I’m not standing on a soap box right now judging anyone reading this and not turning that eye to myself.

I have myself turned a few things in my life into idols over the years and there’s one in particular that I am aware of, and I am working on rectify.

Over the years, I have put several things in the position of an idol and they go as follows…

Entertainment
My family
My friends
My finances
My health
My relationships
My dignity
The respect of others
The acknowledgment of others
My feelings

These are actually just a handful of the things that I have put before God in past years.

The first one, entertainment… God is still working on me to change.

Sometimes I find myself going on YouTube to watch a random video before I read, pray, and worship in the morning.

Sometimes I find myself going to YouTube to relieve stress, and sometimes I find myself looking to YouTube to improve my mood.

I’ve done this many times before going to God and this amongst other things is what makes youtube an idol in my life.

For me, though, entertainment, as an idol has taken many forms. If it’s not YouTube, it’s music; if it’s not music it’s movies; if it’s not movies it’s TV, so on and so forth.

I have gotten much better in recent months [editor’s note: HE HAS 💖] but I’m not out of the woods just yet.

I tell you all of this to show you that I am not condemning any of you.

I just want you to take the same introspective look that I have and admit to ourselves that there are things in your, things in my life, that we put ahead of God.

Bring these things to him and ask him to remove them from the status of idol and put himself at the top of our lives where he belongs.  

Idol worship may look different in this modern age, but it still breaks the first Commandment, “thou shall have no other gods before me”.

Idol worship still robs us of time with God, of fellowship with God, of getting to know God, of getting to serve God and ultimately of our eternity with God, should we not give up these idols and put God in his rightful place in our lives, the center.

One final time, I encourage you all to look at your lives.

I encourage you all to take a deep introspective look at yourselves.

Answer this question for yourselves, truthfully, and go to God with your answer. Ask him to forgive you for your idol worship and to help you put him back in the center of your life where he belongs.

-MB