I recently visited a friend and she had a Buddha and a Hindu image of an elephant with many arms, and a Hindu goddess with many arms as "decorations" on her desk. She said that the images was to "attract wealth." Above those on a high shelf she had an image of Saint Antonio. She said the image of Saint Antonio was for protection.
I questioned her about the use of these images. Though she confessed Christ and gave a monthly donation to help a project in Africa, nevertheless she was seeking unto these other "gods" in case Jesus didn't work. The question is, Either Jesus was and is the Son of God, or He isn't. Which is it? If He is the Son of God then we should not be "worshipping" any other god, but God Himself. Jesus explicitly said, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you." [Matthew 6:33] Apostle Paul wrote, "But my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches and glory in Christ Jesus." [Philippians 4:19]
Jesus also said to look at the flowers and birds of the field how God takes care of them. If God takes care of them and not one bird falls to the ground without Him knowing it, shall He not take care of each one of us? In the Gospel of John Jesus said, "Whatsoever things ye shall ask the Father in my name, He will give it you."[John 16:23] and "If you ask anything in my name, I will do it."[John 14:14]
We do not need to go off to these other gods, which are not God for our material blessings. We need to seek the one and only true God and love and follow Him. The Old Testament has many examples where God's people disobeyed His commandments and made images of other gods of the nations around them. God did not bless them for their actions. The prophets often came and destroyed the images, and admonished the people to repent and get back to worshipping and loving the true God. Let us do likewise and not put our faith in strange gods, but in the one true God proclaimed by Jesus Christ "who is the image of the invisible God,"[Colossians 1:15] and "in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."[Colossians 2;3]
If we obey God in spirit and in truth by following His still small voice that admonishes us to love God and our neighbour as ourselves, we will do well. Put your trust in the one true God and He will not fail you. Break those images, those pretty so-called decorations that attract wealth, and trust in God of the Bible and in Him alone. Like Solomon wrote, "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man."
I will include some other appropriate verses below.
In Psalm 115 we read, "Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God?" The heathen said that because the Israelites had no images to worship. The psalm continues, "Their (the heathen) idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not. They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat. They that make them are like unto them; so is everyone that trusts in them."[Psalm 115:2, 4-8]
Jesus has told us that God is a Spirit and we that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. [John 4:24] Do those Buddhas and Shivas actually work? Of course they can. But when you go to these false spiritual fountains you will eventually have the devil to pay. They will deceive you and lead you further and further from the truth of Christ and His words that are set to make you free.
In Deuteronomy we read, "Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve Him, and shall swear by His name. Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you; (For the Lord thy God is a jealous God among you)." [Deuteronomy 6:13-15a] You can lose God's blessing on your life, His protection if you go after these other gods, which are not God, but deceiving evil spiritual beings. They do have power and may even seem to work, but their end is your deception and pulling you away from the true God of the Bible.
Moses destoyed the false god, the Golden Calf, the Israelites made during the time he was with God on the mountain receiving the ten commandments. [Exodus 32] The first two commandments prohibit worshipping false gods. "I am the Lord thy God...thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in the heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God."[Exodus 20:2-5]
Joshua, before he died, admonished the people to put away the strange gods that they had amongst them. "Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord."[Joshua 24:14] Joshua is warning the people, reminding them of the flood that destroyed mankind because of their disobedience to God. He warns the Israelites that if they forsake the Lord, they will lose His blessing and evil will befall them. [Joshua 24:20]
Elijah challenged the false prophets of Baal and defeated them. [1 Kings 18]
Rachel steals her father's idols, lies about it, and later dies in childbirth. [Genesis 31:25-35, Genesis 35:16-20] Jacob had told his household "Put away the strange gods that are among you."[Genesis 35:2] Apparently, Rachel held unto the idols, the gods of her father which she had stolen, and lied about. She lost God's blessing and then died in childbirth, a sad lesson for us all to take to heart.
Gideon smashes the idols of his father and builds an altar to the Lord. [Judges 6:25-27]
Of course, there are many other examples that could be found to reinforce the point that God wants our full attention and devotion. In Him we can find the happiness and purpose that we each yearn for. Please, don't seek unto these gods, that are not God. Be careful, also, because the idols we serve today may not be so simple as those of men in the past.
According to Google search: "In Abrahamic religions, namely Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than the Abrahamic God as if it were God." "Idols are anything that you give your life to. That you pour every ounce of your energy into in hopes of it bringing you the things you desire in return. Anything you place above God. There are many idols we struggle with and many of them creep into our lives without us even realizing."
John Piper explains idolatry as follows:
First in the HeartPaul says, “Covetousness, which is idolatry.” So what idolatry looks like today is the activity of the human heart. This is not a deed of the body. That follows — a fruit on a branch. It starts in the heart: craving, wanting, enjoying, being satisfied by anything that you treasure more than God. That is an idol. Paul calls this covetousness — a disordered love or desire, loving more than God what ought to be loved less than God and only for the sake of God. But covetousness is the condition that this disordered heart is in, an act of loving too much what ought to be loved less. And that is why the wrath of God is coming. That is what idolatry looks like today. And it is everywhere in our culture.
“Idolatry starts in the heart: craving, wanting, enjoying, being satisfied by anything that you treasure more than God.”
So finally: What is an idol? Well, it is the thing. It is the thing loved or the person loved more than God, wanted more than God, desired more than God, treasured more than God, enjoyed more than God. It could be a girlfriend. It could be good grades. It could be the approval of other people. It could be success in business. It could be sexual stimulation. It could be a hobby or a musical group that you are following or a sport or your immaculate yard. I was looking for some yard stuff the other day and I clicked on a video ad for a yard service and three people came on and all of them made the point that this yard service enabled them to brag that they had the best yard in the neighborhood. I thought: What a motivation! I want to be number one in green grass! So that could be an idol. Or your own looks could be an idol. It could be anything.
So Paul puts it like this in Romans 1:25: “They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature” — anything that is created — “rather than the Creator.” But there is no wrath for the children of God. And why is that? Because Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 1: “You turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” (1 Thessalonians 1:9–10)
First John 2:15-16 says, "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world." Yet John 3:16 begins, "For God so loved the world. . . ." So, God loves the world, but we are not supposed to? Why the apparent contradiction?
In the Bible, the term world can refer to the earth and physical universe (Hebrews 1:2; John 13:1), but it most often refers to the humanistic system that is at odds with God (Matthew 18:7; John 15:19; 1 John 4:5). When the Bible says that God loves the world, it is referring to the human beings who live here (1 John 4:9). And as His children, we are to love other people (Romans 13:8; 1 John 4:7; 1 Peter 1:22). The parable of the Good Samaritan makes it clear we cannot pick and choose whom to love (Luke 10:30-37).
When we are told not to love the world, the Bible is referring to the world’s corrupt value system. Satan is the god of this world, and he has his own value system contrary to God’s (2 Corinthians 4:4). First John 2:16 details exactly what Satan’s system promotes: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life. Every sin imaginable can be summed up in those three evils.
The world is what we leave when we come to Christ. Isaiah 55:7 says that coming to God involves a forsaking of our own ways and thoughts. John Bunyan, in his book The Pilgrim’s Progress, pictures the believer’s position as having “his eyes lift up to heaven,” holding “the best of books” in his hand, and standing with “the world as cast behind him” (p. 34).
The world often applauds sin. Hollywood encourages us to envy sinners and to foolishly compare ourselves with the "beautiful people" (see Proverbs 23:17). Often the popularity of "stars" is due to their ability to stir in us dissatisfaction with our own lives. Advertisers prey on our natural tendency to love this world, and most marketing campaigns appeal in some way to the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, or the pride of life.
Loving the world means being devoted to the world’s treasures, philosophies, and priorities. God tells His children to set their priorities according to His eternal value system. We are to “seek first” God’s kingdom and righteousness (Matthew 6:33). No one can serve two masters (Matthew 6:24), and we cannot be devoted to both God and the world at the same time.
When we enter God’s family through faith in Christ, God gives us the ability to exit the world’s rat race (2 Corinthians 5:17). We become citizens of another kingdom (Philippians 1:27, 3:20). Our desires turn heavenward, and we begin to store up eternal treasure (Luke 12:33; Matthew 19:21; 1 Timothy 6:18-19). We realize that what is truly important is eternal, not temporal, and we stop loving the world.
To continue to love the world the way unbelievers do will cripple our spiritual growth and render us fruitless for God’s kingdom (Matthew 3:8; Luke 6:43-45; John 15:1-8). In John 12:25, Jesus took this thought a step further when He said, "Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life." Not loving the world extends to our own lives as well. Jesus said if we love anything more than Him, we are not worthy of Him (Matthew 10:37-38).
In general, the term world in the Bible refers to the evil system controlled by Satan that leads us away from worship of God. John Calvin said, "The human heart is an idol factory." We can make idols out of anything. Any passionate desire of our hearts that is not put there by God for His glory can become an idol (1 Corinthians 10:31). Loving the world is idolatry (1 Corinthians 10:7, 14). So, while we are commanded to love the people of the world, we are to be wary of anything that competes with God for our highest affections.
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