Dealing with Idols

Jeremiah 10:2-8
(2) Thus says the LORD: "Learn not the way of the nations, nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens because the nations are dismayed at them,
(3) for the customs of the peoples are vanity. A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.
(4) They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move.
(5) Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field, and they cannot speak; they have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good."
(6) There is none like you, O LORD; you are great, and your name is great in might.
(7) Who would not fear you, O King of the nations? For this is your due; for among all the wise ones of the nations and in all their kingdoms there is none like you.
(8) They are both stupid and foolish; the instruction of idols is but wood!

It's easy to skip past this, isn't it? After all, few Americans have actual idols in the house. Yet our lives are marked by idolatry. We have made an idol out of sex. We certainly have out of money. Power and prestige are idols to many. And so on. It's not hard to come up with a long list.

As Christians we are going to face pressure from these idols. It is easy to start thinking of sex as the world does. It is easy to think of money as the world does too. The current economic downturn affects my 401(k) and my daughter's 529 just like it does for the unbeliever. However, in the end I must not be too swayed by this. I must trust in the Lord whose name is great in might. He is my rock. He sustains me. He gets me through all of this. He will keep me walking in paths of righteousness for His name's sake.

Let's never forget that as we feel the pressure from the idols around us.