As soon as I gave my life to Christ and knew that God had a plan and purpose for my life, the only thing I concerned myself with, was getting to know that plan and purpose.

This desire in me was so great to the point where it exceeded my desire to even sit at the  feet of Jesus and learn. This was really funny because while God really wanted me to know and work in that purpose, He was not going to reveal it to me at the expense of my soul and my relationship with Him, so I think He was rather breaking that strong desire to know purpose over learning Him.

He revealed to me the idol I had created in the quest for my purpose. I felt hurt and cheated but I realised that it is a common error Christians always  fall into, might not be one of purpose, but when we have a desire to do something for God to the point where it exceeds our desire to allow God do through us.

From this short story, I need you to see how easily something or someone can become an idol. It does not have to be a carved image or glittery object. All it has to do is to take the place of God in your life to be seen as an idol according to heaven.

I was reading a book once by Gbile Akanni, He was writing about Abraham and Isaac and He opened my eyes to see that in getting Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, God was also weaning Abraham from Isaac.

After waiting the number of years Abraham waited for the promise, it was easy to idolise Isaac as soon as He came but to Abraham, it might have seemed like he was merely ‘treasuring that which God had given him’, but God saw his heart, God saw where He was placed and where Abraham had placed Isaac and so, beyond the numerous lessons we get from that story, it also teaches us one of weaning. How God dethrones the things and people we enthrone above Him in our hearts.

Theologians, philosophers and scientists daily make discoveries that remind us that the human man naturally, is an idol worshipper.

We were created with a void that science always tries to explain to mean something else but really is one only the creator can fill. As a result of this void, were daily searching out what or who to fill it and as such, we make idols out of things, people, desires and plans and we don’t even realise we’re doing this until we get to dead ends and realise that ‘This thing/This person has not really satisfied me’.

Idol worship doesn’t always look like you bowing down to a carved image, it isn’t also you kneeling and praying to some objects and images. It could be the smallest thing or the relationship you least expect. This is why the bible admonishes us to always search and evaluate ourselves and it is why David’s prayer to God remains gold, where he said

Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting

Psalm 139; 23-24

Until we realise that only Jesus can fill the void we have, we will remain idol worshippers by nature.

This year, i’m trusting God to open your eyes to all the things and people you’ve placed above Him, to the things and people whose opinions come before Gods and to the things and people who get your heart before God does.

Idol worship in the 21st century takes a camouflage and chameleon view that we must identify and work against and the only way to do this is identify the only One that can fill that void, cause once it is filled, it is easy to recognise the counterfeits.