The first commandment in the law of God is this: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Later on in Jesus’ ministry, He is questioned about what the most important commandment is. Jesus answers, saying, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.” During the Old Testament days, God determined whether a king was good or bad by whether or not that king held any god before God. It was easy, in the Old Testament days, to see when someone was worshiping a false god: they had a physical god like a golden calf or a wooden image or a false altar that was very present in their lives. But what about today?

Let’s take a test together (be as honest as possible to yourself). Get a piece of paper and a pen or just write it down on the notes app in your phone. It’ll be up to you whether to destroy your answers after you take the test or whether you want to keep it. Here we go:

1. What do you spend most of your time thinking about?
2. How much time do you spend in a day on anything not related to your faith?
3. What hurts you the most?
4. When you daydream about the future, what comes to mind?
5. What do you need right now that would make you feel happy?
6. What or who do you talk about the most?

Now, look at those answers. Based on your answers, as long as you were honest, what do you think could be an idol in your life? I know it doesn’t come naturally for us to think that way in the modern world, but realistically anything that comes before our relationship with Christ is definitely a false god in our hearts. And here’s the really tricky part: whatever is coming before God does not have to be a bad thing or a bad person to become an idol in our lives. It could be a good thing or good person, but if we place it or them in a higher priority of love than our love for Christ, we have made that thing or that person into something bad: an idol. So how do we go about destroying those false gods and begin serving the one, true God we should love more?

1. Make a decision to change and repent. “Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.” Every time the Israelites chose to worship false gods, God would punish them, but He also always called them to repent. Repent means “to turn away from.” You see, God can call you to change Over and over again, He can send people your way that beg you to let go of your sins, but you’ll never change until you make the decision to do so. No person can make the decision to change but you. The first step in releasing false idols in your life is to make the decision that you will let that idol go: you must care about making God the first and greatest love of your life.
2. Destroy the altars and kill off the bad influences. When the Israelites entered the promised land, God commanded them to, “Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee: But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves: For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” God knew then, as He knows now, that the best way to resist temptation is to destroy the source of temptation. If we remove the object of the temptation, we greatly increase our success rate. If the idol in your life is music, throw the music away. If the idol in your life is a person, break off all contact with that person. If the idol in your life is a goal that you know you should not have, destroy the option to follow that goal. Don’t think about it, don’t leave any options to go back: just destroy the temptation.
3. Replace the bad with the good. 2 Timothy 2:22 tells us, “Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” When you turn away (repent) from something and cut off all bridges that lead back that direction, you find yourself turning towards something else. For example, as I’m writing this post, there’s a wall if I look right, but if I look to my left, there’s a door. When I turn from the wall that God has commanded me to leave behind, I always find a door leading into His will and His path towards something specifically good. Replace the idol you just destroyed with something godly or God-honoring. If it was a relationship, find a good friendship to encourage you. If it was an ungodly habit, learn a new, godly habit. The further we run from our false idol, the closer we’ll find ourselves towards God. Start reading your Bible on a daily basis to learn what God, your God, cares about and wants you to love more than anything else.
4. Pray for strength. It’s not going to be easy at first to get rid of your idol’s hold on your heart. It will take effort. But if you ask Jesus to help you make Him first in your life, He will help you. James 4: 8 tells us that if we draw close to God, He will draw close to us. Psalms 55:22 tells us, “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee: He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.” If you’re seeking after righteousness, He will sustain — or strengthen and support — you. 

There is peace and love and joy waiting for those willing to lay aside their idols in deference to their God. What idol are you holding onto? What have you placed in more importance than your relationship with your Saviour? It’s time to lay it aside.

Love, Meghan