Tearing Down Idols

And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the name of them out of that place (Deuteronomy 12:3)

What is the difference, dear reader, between admiration, adoration, and idolization? How do we know when someone has moved from healthy appreciation for another, to something somewhat sinister and unbecoming to their being: an unhealthy attachment?

Have you ever been obsessed with something or someone? When did you recognize you were over the edge? What did you have to do to stop the thoughts, or the activities that were taking over your mind, your hands, your heart? 

Addiction is a word used to describe what is perceived as uncontrollable detrimental behaviours. I am inclined to call controllable behaviours that people persist in purposefully, as obsession, rather than addiction. We all do what we do to claim a prize, an outcome we desire. For example: an alcoholic, a person purportedly addicted to the consumption of alcohol, has to source out the stuff to water their pretend problem. They will need money, a means of transport, a person to deliver the product if they can't go solo to get it themselves, and a store from which to purchase their mind and body altering elixir of choice. It isn't some magical formula: being an "addict" is a pragmatic step by step event, repeated over and over again until the person is pickled, and any semblance of their former self fades away into someone else's memory of them. The drinker forgets him or herself, forgets the people they have been given to relate to, and gives themselves over to what they demand they deserve, again, to their detriment. 

We could play out this scenario for many wanton and repetitive behaviours, and that is the crux of the matter. People erect idols, icons, and altars, worshipping them ~ and at them in the case of altars ~ with single minded focus. 

Shall I list the who's and what's that have been bowed down to, or do you have a list started in you head already? Let me off the top of my head, list a few people that have been considered icons because of the fame, and hero worshippers they amassed:

Elvis, Gandhi, Hitler, Freud, Trump, Buffet, Justin Bieber, Tony Robbins, Oprah, pope, Billy Graham: these are just a few names of humans that have made it to the top of the hit charts. They are heralded as successes in their given career or calling fields. Love them or hate them, they have influenced society and left a mark. Each one has been labelled some kind of hero, even Hitler, who still, to this day, has many a die hard devotee. 

We humans are a needy bunch. We need to be taught, we need to be lead, we need to have life skills modelled for us in order to become capable service minded citizens. We don't always have the best examples set before us, and searching for a person that seems to be the cats meow, that we can spend our affections on, that we wish we were like, is often the beginning of obsession. Humans worshipping other humans is a dangerous endeavour. Humans paying homage at the feet of another, mere human, is demeaning for the one, and hyper elevating for the other. Idols get knocked off perches, and when they do, they fall headlong onto their fans and followers: there is always co-lateral damage in this scenario. 

At the top of this page there is Scripture, starting with a command, And ye shall overthrow... The command is God's mandate, and I take it very seriously. The orders are to overthrow, break, burn, hew; destroy altars, pillars, groves and graven images. Dear reader, this is a full-time job! Open your eyes just a sliver and give your environment a critical assessment: What do you see? Christian, I ask again, What do you see everywhere, if not icons and idols, altars and images? Satan worship is all about us: formerly it took on subtle secretive forms, now we see grotesque displays, with siren calls to those that are drawn to demonic forces and activities. People are unabashed in their evident worship, obsessed with their god, not recognizing they are enslaved.

It is the enslavement that I find most disturbing. The invisible chains that are now more obvious than ever before, need breaking. The only way for an indentured servant ~ this is what a Satan worshipper is, since they labour for his destructive cause ~ to be set free, is to hear and receive the Truth. Prayer and professing are our weapons of war, dear one, as we go into warrior mode for souls. 

I confess here that I have an obsession too. I have called myself a one trick pony many a time. Try to turn me around, and I will spin back to the exact same spot you found me in. I love Jesus and The Bible with every ounce of my being and I could say I cannot help myself, that I am an addict out of control, but that would be an utter lie of the first degree. I choose daily to worship at the altar of my Lord, my God, my Saviour. I have Bibles on all three levels of my home, and Scripture on my walls, reminding me to whom I belong. There are crosses and book marks, and some might call them tokens, little images, but they are not graven... I look at them and they fill my heart with hope in Christ, and drive me to speak of him and write about him, and long for him to be the God that people turn to for the salvation of their souls. 

We choose our thoughts, and how to coral them.

We choose our reading material, and how it moves us.

We choose our friends, and how they influence us.

We choose who and what we worship, and how it impacts our spirit.

We choose, and to say otherwise takes away responsibility and accountability, and what is a human reduced to, without choice? I wasn't born a Christian, I was born with the potential to become one. I recall that moment in time when the dark shroud of pessimism was lifted from my mind and the Light entered in. I heard, and then I saw, and I have never looked back wanting to undo what God did for me that day. 

If you are choosing destructive ways that are detrimental to your well-being and are co-laterally injuring others, you can choose differently today, with the strength of God as your backbone and muscle. Straighten up, fly right. Leave behind worldly attachments and cling to the One that sets souls free. Go to God, go to the Bible, go to professing Christians that will NOT deviant from Truth, and hear and see what it feels like to have the chains drop from your mind, your hands, your heart. 

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord (Luke 4:18-19)

This, dear reader, as is every other, the year of the Lord.