“And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God…” (Exodus 20:1-10)

Modern-day idol worship looks different than it did in Bible times. Instead of kings forcing citizens to bow down and worship idols, Christians face other idols. In addition to smart phones, Christians today can be distracted with work, relationships, hobbies, TV, work, money, pornography, drugs, alcohol and a myriad of other things. Some of these are good and some of these are obviously bad, but every one of these things can evolve into a toxic idol. We may not physically worship our phone, but perhaps we did mentally by putting it above other things-God, partner, family etc. God is telling us to recognize the idols in our lives and push them out! He is the only God and said, "You shall have no other gods before me."

 What are the idols that have been placed in your path? Recognize them, and find a way to put them under God on your list of priorities, never above. If your personal idol also happens to be a sin such as lust, greed or envy, reach out to God for help. God knows when you are truly trying to obey him, but you must push forth with your strongest effort to defeat Satan’s idols.

For myself and for you, I pray the admonition of 1 John 5:21: “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”