“Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” 1 John 5:21
“Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.” 1 Corinthians 10:14
“Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. But I, with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord.” Jonah 2:8-9
“Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” Ecclesiastes 1:2
General Reflections:
Idolatry is the most widespread and contagious sin throughout human history. It is not a sin among many; it is the ancestor of every other sin, inherited through the ages to every person, originating with Adam and descending to every human being. Every single one of us is an idolater of some sort.
We don’t commit any other sin without first breaking the first of the Ten Commandments, “You shall not have no other Gods before me”. This means that every sin we commit is a sin first of idolatry.
God created every human being with a built-in worship centre, the heart. And that’s a good thing because when we worship the right object, our heart comes alive. But our problem is that we often don not worship the right thing. We ought to worship God, but instead, we worship idols. Your idol is anything more important to you than God.
Idolatry is a sin against God; it’s an abandonment of Him, an assault on Him, a denial of His goodness. Idolatry is evil because it says to God, “You are unworthy to me.”
Examples of idolatry: power, pleasure, positions, status, possessions, money, physical appearance, entertainment, sex, comfort, technology, influencers, celebrities, even oneself.
Vanity means excessive pride or admiration of one’s own appearance or achievements. Vanity is something that is vain, empty or of no real value.
Personal Reflections:
Among the above examples of idolatry, which ones can you relate to and to what extent?
Are you a constant pleasure seeking person? Do you crave for power, positions, status or sex?
Do you always seek attention when you are with friends or family members?
Are you happy with your personal appearance or do you wish you look like someone else? How much time and money do you spend in order to “look good and be noticed?
Do you have extreme admirations to any celebrities i.e.. movie stars, singers, sportspersons, politicians or other public personalities?
How much time do you spend in social media, watching television or movies every day?
Do these things affect your work, your service to your family, community and the Church? Do you put these things above your prayer life and in reading and meditating
on the Word of God?
Do you have the courage to remind your love ones about the sin of idolatry or do you simply ignore even the obvious signs that they are in to idolatry of any kind?
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