False Images

Daily New Life

False Images

1 Corinthians 10:12-14

We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

We may find that our imaginations are held captive by an image or ideal that makes demands of us. We may be focused on the image of "the perfect body" and find ourselves swept into compulsive eating disorders, depression, or sexual addictions. We may be focused on the image of "the good life" and find ourselves swept into workaholism, stealing, or lying to try to appease the image we worship. We may have an image of ourselves as "the black sheep of the family" and slavishly live our lives playing out that role.

We don't talk much about idol worship in our culture, except perhaps when we talk of celebrities. Idolatry can be defined as image worship; it may involve becoming a slave to the ideas an image represents. This is the second commandment: "You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods" (Exodus 20:4-5). The apostle Paul warned, "So, my dear friends, flee from the worship of idols" (1 Corinthians 10:14).

In his protective love, God warns us not to let devotion to an image enslave our lives. The images we worship are more likely to come through television or other media than from an idol carved from stone. But we need to ask ourselves, What are the images and ideas that drive our compulsive behaviors?

Taking inventory of the things we consider important may alert us to the false gods in our lives.

Daily New Life with Steve Arterburn