Volume 50   Number 8                                                         August 2008

'There shall no strange god be found in thee;’ ~ Psalms 81:9

This is a subject that needs our utmost attention these days as it has in the past, but perhaps more so today. We have so many things today that take our time and thoughts away from what is most important in our lives. We have that one-eyed monster called a T.V., our computers, both which can devour our time; we have many activities throughout the day, not to mention in a lot of cases, our jobs. We try to keep up with the Jones’s and as a result we wind up holding down two to three jobs just to make ends meet. These types of situations not only can become idols, but do become so. When we stop to analyze the term ‘idol’, we find that it is whatever we worship, and what we worship outside of God is what takes us into paganism. This is what we want to discuss at this time. It is also what we all must avoid if we truly want to serve our Lord, our Creator, and our Savior and achieve the goal before us.

Let’s look at the definition from Webster’s New Illustrated Dictionary:

(Pagan) 2) In early Christian use, an idol – worshipper; a non- Christian. 3) An irreligious person. adj. Pertaining to pagans; heathenish; idolatrous. (Idolatry) noun 2) Idolatrous admiration. 1) The worship of idols. verb 1) To have inordinate love for; adore.

In Genesis 35:2 we find; “Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments:” Exodus 20:3: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Leviticus 19:4: “Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the Lord your God.”

In Matthew 10:37 our Savior said, “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;”

A business man said at a conference, “There is no reason that an associate should not be here except for death.” Sounds a bit extreme perhaps, but you know that if we find something else to do on Lord’s Day or any other time, other than serve God, we may just find ourselves on the short end of the stick, if you will, when we stand at the Judgment Seat before our Creator. We fall short of the intended goal, just as in any business when we don’t apply ourselves to the task at hand. Revelation 2:10: “Be thou faithful until death and I will give thee a crown of life.” This is the goal, is it not? Let us so strive to achieve this goal by not allowing the things of this life to drag us into paganism, which is directly attached to idolatry, which is very much against God’s will. Let us remember what the Psalmist said in 81:9; “There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god.”