The Golden Calf

Over the years I have had the opportunity to visit several countries in which I learned a bit about the various people groups and their religions. I have visited Hindu temples in England and India as well as a mosque and Buddhist temple and catholic churches in Chile, Mexico, and Costa Rica. My glimpse into the way other religions worship and endeavor to get to heaven was revealed in their worship by offering burning candles and incense, rice, fruit, and other things to various gods, saints, and prophets.

It saddens me when we have the Truth, so returning home to America which was founded on the Christian faith brings me solace. We are not a nation that worships idols…are we? We don’t have roadside shrines or morning mantras chanted at dawn on loudspeakers, but what really makes something an “idol”?

Admittedly, when I hear the word “idol,” I most often think of some gold sculpture much like I envision “the golden calf” in Exodus 32. In my daily Bible reading I have been trucking through the Old Testament and noticed the sin the children of Israel most often get in trouble for is…{drum roll please}…idolatry.

The fact is we know Who we are supposed to put first in life. So did the Israelites, especially Aaron. Yet Aaron gave in to what the majority wanted him to do despite knowing the truth. He made the golden calf (Exodus 32:2-4).

You have been bought with a price, and you should, therefore, transfer to Him the title-deeds of your body, spirit, and soul.

Charles Spurgeon

Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, and his reply? “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matthew 22:36-38). We have read this and heard sermons preached on it many times, yet do we really consider its implications? Our Lord commands complete, undivided, and absolute love and worship. When we pause to earnestly ponder this, and use it as a plumb line for our life, how are we doing?

Idolatry is any person or any thing that we put before God. Our worship has been misplaced.

The Bible tells us everybody is worshiping something. The “gods” we worship may not have personal names like other religions, but they do have their high places in our lives (2 Kings 17:11, see also Ephesians 6:12). You may not use the word “worship,” but another way of saying it is what you are living for.

When something other than God is giving you meaning in life, then you have an idol. It may be something that if you lose it, you don’t want to live. The problem with idolatry is we have taken things that might be good – not always bad – and let them become the best things in our lives.

What are you putting your faith, time, energy, and money in? Success, education (grades), sports, fashion, hobbies…even these good things can become idolatrous. Things such as having control in our lives, our child’s performance, the need to look beautiful and young and healthy, desiring to be affirmed or loved, or trying to be the best parent/spouse can consume our thoughts and day.

Matthew 6:24: “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” The Bible dictionary defines mammon as “earthly goods, property, riches.”

How can we tell when something has taken the place of God? We can tell by where our minds wander and dwell upon, where we spend our money and time, what our topics of conversations are (career, kids, car, money, etc), and how we make effort for things/people in life.

When you begin to think of idolatry as all the various things and even people trying to squeeze in and push God out of our lives, we realize worshiping idols is more than burning incense and offering fruit to various gods. It is all about love. Who or what do I love the most?

What is keeping you from fully pursuing God? Are you wasting your time on other things? Our struggle with the sin of idolatry will continue until heaven, but we can make it a point to keep God first. We must understand our weakness and combat it.

Sometimes we forget our need for Christ just like the Israelites throughout the Old Testament. However, nothing else will bring us the peace, comfort, and satisfaction He does. If we repent of the idols in our lives, God can change our heart and help us keep our eyes on Him.

As believers, we need to look in the temple of our hearts. What or who resides there? Is there a false god or the one true God who sent His Son to die for us? Is God on the throne?

Resolution One: I will live for God.
Resolution Two: If no one else does, I still will.

Jonathan Edwards

A while back I read how this pandemic has caused some of us to discover what a few of the idols are in our lives because of what has been taken away. Sports, travel/vacation, amusements such as going to see movies, eating at restaurants, going to theme parks, concerts, etc. Have we been more upset about the lack of those things over the ability to worship God with our local church? (See “Easy” Church.)

Final Thoughts

My travels have shown me how some religions try to work their way to heaven, but as believers, let us make sure we keep Jesus Christ as our first love (Revelation 2:4). Our Lord and Savior loves us with an agape love, an unconditional love. When we do fail, we can repent and start again (1 John 1:9 – written to believers).

One of the commonest causes of failure in Christian life is found in the attempt to follow some good man whom we greatly admire. No man and no woman, no matter how good, can be safely followed. If we follow any man or woman, we are bound to go astray. There has been but one absolutely perfect Man on this earth – the Man Christ Jesus. If we try to follow any other man we are surer to imitate his faults than his excellencies. Look to Jesus and Jesus only as your Guide.

R. A. Torrey

Make a point to evaluate yourself in light of the scriptures presented concerning idolatry. What or who is your focus? Confess your idolatry when you recognize it and repent. Whatever is taking God’s place – remove it!

Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

1 John 5:21