We All Worship Someone or Something? Do you know the name of the God you worship?
Perhaps you disagree with the statement: ‘we all worship something’ as only God comes to mind with the word worship. The Merriam-Webster dictionary has these applicable definitions for the word ‘worship’ as a verb.
1: to honor or show reverence for as a divine being or supernatural power
What is an Idol? An idol is when something or someone becomes more important to us than God.
Jeffrey Curtis Poor in an article called Idol Worship Today: 6 Modern Idols That We Worship says:
An idol is when something or someone becomes more important to us than God. Even good things can become idols when we make them ultimate things in our lives. Anything, or anyone, can become an idol if we place the value for that thing/person above our value for God.
In ancient times that would have looked like bowing down to worship a golden statue. In modern times it might look like getting our identity from our job or staring at our technology all day. Anything that becomes more important to us than God becomes an idol. And we all have them.
Billions of people since the beginning of time have been very religious, sought and chose false gods and many, many people dedicated their lives to serving them.Introducing the Unknown God
“It is plain to see that you Athenians take your religion seriously. When I arrived here the other day, I was fascinated with all the shrines I came across. And then I found one inscribed, to the god nobody knows. I’m here to introduce you to this God so you can worship intelligently, know who you’re dealing with.
The Athenians had very little knowledge of the Hebrew scriptures. For this reason Paul began with the general revelation that is visible in creation itself. He continued by describing how God made Adam, how nations were formed and that God has appointed a judge by whom the entire human race will be judged and everything will be made right. He reveals that this judge is Jesus who was raised from the dead.
People are empty without God and they try to eliminate that emptiness with philosophy or religion.
Do you know the name of the God or god you worship?
Commentary from THE MESSAGE by Eugene Peterson:
Pauls’ sermon exposed the religious need of the Athenians. That wasn’t hard to do with altars all over the place devoted to ” the god nobody knows”(verse23) Paul merely stated what was obvious but overlooked: People are empty without God, and they try to eliminate that emptiness with philosophy or religion. (Emphasis added.)
To this human condition Paul’s sermon preaches Christ, a man with passions like ours, who felt more deeply than any human being, who endured incredible suffering, and in whom God was revealed in a rational and perceptible way. The preaching of Christ brings our needs and our knowledge into unity and calls us us to accept him into our lives so that our passions and perceptions can be integrated into a whole life.
Why do we all worship something?
Do you know the name of the God or god you worship?
The answer to that question lies in this Bible verse:
Ecclesiastes 3:11 NLT 11 Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. (emphasis added)
which cannot be satisfied by any created thing but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.” (emphasis added)It’s important to realize that Religion does not fill this vacuum, only faith in God through a relationship with Jesus Christ will satisfy this emptiness.
We All Worship Something or Someone? Who or What is Your God?
We are created for worship!
Another key point to realize is that those who are not religious are not exempt from trying to fill that God-shaped vacuum. Without a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, life can feel void and meaningless. All of humanity seeks to fill the God-shaped vacuum within and deaden the pain of our empty lives with things, endless activities, seeking approval, and more stuff.
The fact is that God has created us for relationships both with himself and each other and He wants us to take on the identity of being a loved child of God.
What do you worship?
That is a question we each must ask ourselves and there is a list of statements below to reflect on that helps to clarify the answers we arrive at.
Anything that takes the place of God in our life, anything that becomes more important than him is an idol; Career, family, money, yourself, sexual identity, entertainment, recreation, pleasure, fame, success, approval, culture, power, possessions etc.
Timothy Keller, a New York Times best seller made the following statement in his book:
Success, true love, and the life you’ve always wanted. Many of us placed our faith in these things, believing they held the key to happiness, but with a sneaking suspicion they might not deliver.
Clues that something has become and idol
I found this great article: 10 Clues That Something Has Become and Idol. I recommend that you read it, it was very helpful. These probing 10 statements are from the article:
Something is an idol when it-
causes me to disobey God.
gives me greater joy than Christ.
gives me the most excitement about the future.
is what I daydream about the most.
is what I most enjoy talking about.
is what I fear losing the most.
is what I most enjoy reading about.
is what I most love spending money on.
is what I look to for heart-rejuvenation.
is what I most enjoy spending time on.
Wow, those statements are quite revealing aren’t they…I think that most of us, if we are being honest would have to confess that, yes, we do have idols. But Paul calls us to “flee idolatry” 1 Corinthians 10:14. And John says “Little children, keep yourselves from idols” 1 John 5:21.
There is only one God who can wholly satisfy our cravings- and now is the perfect time to meet him again, or for the first time. Timothy Keller
If you want to read further on this subject, this article is very good: Modern Day Idolatry | 17 Surprising Idols We Worship Today
To read more about salvation and being ready for eternity, you can read this post: Your Eternal Destiny.
Prayer of Response
Lord, I come, I confess that when I honestly respond to the clues that an idol is in my life, I see that Yes, I struggle with some things that are good things, things you intend for my enjoyment but they can sometimes take too much of my attention.
I pray that you will help me to submit myself daily to your good plans for me. When I fail, help me to put you back at the center of my life.
I pray this for those reading this post as well. We need your Holy Spirit to have full control so that we will be accomplishing the good things you had pre-planned for us to do, even before we were born.
Thank you for placing eternity in our hearts so that we have that desire to know you. Help us to empty that space from idols and fill that space with only You.
Thank you for all the good things you have given us to enjoy- help us to keep them in perspective and not allow them to become idols that drive us and that we serve.
I pray this in Jesus Holy name, AMEN
