“You have been set free from sin and
have become slaves to righteousness.”
Romans 6:18
We all worship something.
It is inherent in our nature to worship. Oh, we may not literally prostrate ourselves before idols carved from stone, but 21st-century westerners are no less idolaters than those who worshipped Baal in the Old Testament, or Artemis in the first century, or Buddha in the Far East.
An idol is that which captures your affections. It is what your mind drifts to, and what your heart is focused upon. If you want to identify your own idols, ask yourself these two questions:
- What makes me happy?
- What makes me angry?
More specifically, what makes me happy when I have, and angry when I don’t have?
Whatever we worship is the priority of our calendar and our checkbook (errr … debit card). It’s where we spend both our time and our money.
What would an audit of your time and treasure reveal, dear friend? What is your priority? What do you and I relentlessly pursue and prioritize, come what may?
- If my vehicle must be washed and waxed weekly … if there are strict rules about eating and drinking in my car … if a ding or scratch prompts a cry of rage … then my idol may be 5000 pounds of metal on four wheels.
- If it is vitally important that my home be uncluttered, a place of order and beauty … if I’m most pleased when all the LEGOs are in the proper boxes, rather than spread out on the floor and used … if I’m unsettled by junk mail on the counter or shoes not in the basket … if my watchful eye attacks every scuff on the wall or drip on the counter with diligence fueled by irritation … I may very well live in my idol.
- If my day is planned around hours at the gym … if my thought life is intentionally and strategically eyeing the clock to calculate how and when I can don my running shoes … if I am consumed by counting calories, carbs, or fat grams … if the movement of the scale by two notches brings alternating joyful delight or self-condemnation … then perhaps I’m walking around in my idol.
The most insidiously dangerous idols are the ones that can be good things (an organized home, healthy body, well-educated children), but garner our time and affection to the exclusion of all else. They become the main thing. The before-all-else thing.
Does your thought life indict you?
Are you convicted when asked the question, What brings you greatest joy?
Are you nailed when asked, What makes you angry?
Are we most happy when entertained by our favorite TV show? Does shopping, gossiping with friends, or eating a fancy meal bring pleasure? Do we indulge in entertainment that depicts violence, lewd behavior, or profanity? Do we blindly ignore our Lord’s name taken in vain?
What have we compromised, tolerated, or ignored, in order to pay homage to our idols?
In II Peter 2:19, we are warned that we are slaves to whatever has mastered us:
They promise them freedom,
while they themselves are slaves of depravity—
for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.”
Peter’s words echo those of Paul to the Romans:
Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves,
you are slaves to the one whom you obey –
whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death,
or to obedience which leads to righteousness?
Romans 6:16
What is it that you and I just can’t not do – or refuse to try to not do? Do we scoff at fellow believers who sound the alarm of warning? Do we rationalize our license as liberty, proclaiming grace has set us free from legalism? Do we take our sin – our idol worship – seriously? Do we consider that our choices grieve the heart of the One who died to set us free?
Oh, God, what has mastered me? What owns me? What shackles have I willingly – eagerly – allowed to be put on my heart and mind? You set me free from sin … please help me to LIVE free from sin. Fill my heart with a desire to live a life of genuine joy, a life on earth with an eye set on heaven. I worship You alone. Help me to worship You alone!
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as we continue to study verses about FREEDOM.
