Christians today know that idol worship may take various forms. Our job can become our idol if we ignore God’s ways and desires; even our success can be idolatrous if our pursuit overtakes God’s place in our lives; our phones—if they rob us of time and attention to loved ones; ourselves—if we are so self-centered that we crave excessive stuff to satisfy us, or if we disrespect others to gratify our passion to control others. Idolatry is wrong because it rejects the only true God and replaces Him with our own substitute idol. The substitute may be a manmade icon or even a substitute philosophy, person, or object. Anything we regard as equal to or better than Almighty God can be idolatrous. Here is how God’s prophet chastised people for idol worship long ago, found in Habakkuk chapter 2: “What good is an idol carved by man, or a cast image that deceives you? How foolish to trust in your own creation.” Today, God calls us to reject any humanly conceived substitute for Him. We are to worship Almighty God alone, humbly coming to Him by faith in His Son Jesus, and living to please Him in all we do.
