1 Corinthians 6:9-10 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, or homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the Kingdom of God.

 

Throughout the Word of God, we find lists of sins that God hates. Of course, God hates ALL sin and no sin is acceptable to God. In every list of things God hates, we find idolatry. What exactly is idolatry? The Dictionary defines it as “the worship of idols or excessive devotion to, or reverence for some person or thing.”

 

In the Old Testament, we find where the people made statues to worship. God HATES this and in every case He caused the entire nation to fall. This is a repeated pattern and in every case, the people did the same thing and God responded in the same way. This behavior breaks the very First Commandment. Thou shall have no other gods before Me. (Exodus 20:3) While we may not find actual statues in Christian Churches they are present in every Catholic Church and the people do kneel before these statues and pray to them. This is idolatry in its most basic form.

 

However, idolatry is far more than the worship of idols, images, and false gods. Modern idols may not look like statues because idolatry is a matter of the heart and the Word of God tells us that the Lord looks at the heart. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. (1 Samuel 16:7)

 

The simple fact of the matter is that God wants to be first in our lives. Jesus gave us two Commandments to live by. The first one is this: And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. (Mark 12:30) ANYTHING we put before Him is idolatry and He hates it. Nothing is excluded from this.

 

We know that when we repent of our sins and believe that Jesus died on the Cross for our forgiveness, we are set free from the bondage of sin in our lives. But, that does not give us a license to sin or live a lifestyle of sin. God wants us to change. He wants us to trust Him enough to give up all those things that fall into the category of idolatry and put Him first and foremost in our lives.

 

Put God first and He will……….turn the tide……….in your life.

 

God first above all else,         Doreen

 

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