Hosanna Restoration Church

The first question that comes to my mind when I read this is, “Lord have I set up idols in my heart?” “Am I embracing things that lead me to sin?” The next thing I do is ask Him to open the eyes of my understanding and reveal anything that may be brewing that will burst into sin if I do not deal with it.

The thing is, sin seldom happens all of a sudden. It is like a fungus that starts small and by the time we see it, it has a running start. The enemy loves to work things into our lives that we hardly even notice, but over time they become idols and ultimately the idols lead us into sin. So does this mean we can blame the idols? No, because we are the ones who built them in the first place.

For instance, we may allow a little pride to grow into an idol. This is what the religious leaders did. They were proud of their position. The leaders who came to Ezekiel had allowed their pride to get them and all of Israel into a mess. When they came to Ezekiel for help, God pinpointed the idol and the sin and said He had no reason to let them ask Him anything. Instead He declared what He was going to do them for allowing things to get to this point.

No matter what the idol is that may be setting up shop in our lives, we can be searched and cleansed by the word of God. We simply need to go to the Lord and ask Him to search us and to reveal any wickedness that is setting up shop in our hearts.

Remember, something may appear to be innocent and harmless, but if it is allowed to grow it can grow into a big old idol. Idols are hard, and no matter how soft our heart is, that hard spot will do its best to take over and we end up following it into sin.

We know that sin can take many forms and that what is sin to one person may not necessarily be sin to another. We do know that God says that if we know what is right and fail to do it; that is sin. So sin can come as a result of a selfish idol that keeps us from doing what we should. If we prefer to do what we want rather than what God wants we are demanding our own way and that is selfish.

There are many other sins that are made clear as can be in the bible. We are also warned not sin or condemn ourselves by what we approve. In other words, there may be things that we would never do ourselves, but we refuse to take a stand against them. If something is wrong it is wrong. If God says it is a sin; it is a sin. We may have an idol in our heart that says we should just not get involved. But when the bible speaks of Jesus it says that He loves righteousness and hates unrighteousness. Even though we are warned not to judge, that does not give us an excuse not to take a stand.

No matter what shape an idol may take in our lives, we must be rid of it. God can see it before it even starts to take up a spot in our hearts, so the best thing we can do is stay close to God and ask Him to keep us from letting them even get a start. For most certainly if they are given an opportunity they will lead us into sin.