1 John 5:21, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.”
An idol is anything that takes first place in our lives. God is to be first in our lives. An idol can be anything that consumes our focus and concentration over God. So how do we live free from idol worship?
We live in a world that is fallen away from God. This world is not our home nor is it the life God intended for us live. The worldly system is not intended for the believer in Christ. Jesus said in John 15:19, “If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”
Jesus also said in John 10:10, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly.”
Satan is a deceiver, a thief, and a murderer. Adam and Eve listened to the voice of Satan in the garden. Sin was brought into the world. Satan won a battle. But God did not give in or give up. The Cross and the empty tomb prove God’s love for us. Satan has lost the war on God. So how do we live our lives as believers in God?
Paul writes to Timothy, “Keep yourself pure” (1 Timothy 5:22). In Colossians 3:5 he writes, “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”
How do we keep ourselves from idol worship?
Jude writes in verse 21, “Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”
Deuteronomy 11:16, “Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them.” We cannot allow ourselves to be deceived. We are to guard our hearts. Stay in the Word of God. Focus upon God. Do not allow anything, no matter how good it may seem to take first place in your life.
When you go to church, worship God! Corporate worship is important to the follower of Christ. Hebrews 10:25, “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”