November 17, 2025 Devo

Idol worship was a common practice in the days of the psalmist. People would make ornate images out of wood, silver, or gold and decorate them with precious jewels. Then they would pray to them, create rituals to perform for them, and look to them in times of need or for protection. Some would even sacrifice children to them. That might seem a bit crazy, but it’s true. And you know what? It’s STILL true! The idols we worship just look different now.
Three people in North Carolina were arrested for trying to trade a child for a vehicle. Another person in Texas was arrested for trying to trade a child for drugs. One real winner tried to trade a child for 15 Big Macs. Oh, I know. YOU would never do anything like that. But it doesn’t mean you don’t have idols. Idols are the things we look to for significance. Idols are what we look to for our identity. Idols are what we turn to for safety, security, or our sense of value. Sometimes we collect the same idols that other people have because they make us feel like we belong. Got any idols of your own?
I’ve seen people sacrifice their families to obtain a position in a company. That’s an idol. I’ve seen people ignore the people in their lives they say they love the most for a sport, for a hobby, and for various clubs. I’ve seen people who say they have no time to really read and reflect on God’s Word or to be a part of a small group, spend hours surfing the web or playing computer games. I’ve seen people tell people for whom they say they’d die, to “Shut up!” because they’re interrupting their worship of the football game, the Netflix show, or the American Idol contestant. I’ve seen people carefully carrying their cellphone idol with them everywhere they go, staring into its soft glowing screen, touching it, talking to it, and laughing with it, all the while ignoring the worship service, the hurting co-worker, the hungry man on the corner, and their loving families who are begging for just a bit of our attention. I’ve not just seen people like these, I’ve been a person like this myself. We don’t think of it as idol worship, but that’s what it is. And we need to put our idols in their proper place.
Maybe a good reflection today would be to ask God just what it is that we are putting ahead of Him, ahead of our families, or maybe even ahead of taking proper care of ourselves. These things we’ve talked about aren’t idols simply because we have them in our possession or in our lives. They are idols because they have taken possession of our lives! Ask God to show you what you need to lay down, let go of, turn off once in a while, or turn your back on for a season so that you might give time to the truly sacred. You might rediscover some relationships you’ve really been missing. You might find a fresh new joy in worship or reading the Bible. And you may discover God in ways you’ve never really known. Let’s lay down our idols and cling once again to the One True God. That’s God’s Word for you today.