Tag Archives: priorities

Modern Day Idolatry

Leave a reply

Modern Day Idolatry

Modern Day Idolatry

“You must not have any other god but me. You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea.” Exodus 20:3-4 (NLT)

In this day and age many Christians think idolatry is a thing of the past or a thing of Eastern Religion or third-world countries who serve pagan gods. We tend to think of idolatry as a physical statue or item of worship—a physical image of another god…For example when the Israelites made a golden calf to worship at the base of Mount Sinai (Exodus 32). We often don’t even consider that idolatry is alive and thriving even among Christians today, even in our OWN homes and lives.

Idolatry has been defined as “1. worship of idols; and/or 2. excessive devotion to or reverence for some person or thing”. I like the definition of being “excessively devoted to something”. This seems to render more true of modern day idolatry than to think of worshiping an idol or graven image of a god.

Today idolatry takes on new forms. It’s not just golden statues. It could be anything that diverts attention away from serving God or anything that takes precedence over God. Idols could be simply any pleasure in life that we prioritize over God, any “excessive devotion to something” more than God.

It has to do with what we “treasure”, with what is in our hearts.

“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” Matthew 6:19-21 (NLT)

Things we can idolize or “treasure”…

    • People (our spouses/significant others, our children, our friends)
    • Hobbies
    • Work/Career/Performance
    • Fitness
    • Physical appearance/image
    • Social media
    • Entertainment
    • Music
    • Traveling
    • Food
    • Sex/Lust
    • Money
    • Material possessions/superficial gain
    • Fame
    • Power
    • Passions that we pursue
    • Addictions
    • Sometimes it’s even ourselves: “Me, me, me. It’s all about me and what I want and deserve.”

Obsessions, “gods”, and “churches”

Continue reading →

Time Management–Priorities

3 Replies

Time Management: Priorities...one thing is needed

Time Management–Priorities

“One thing is needed…”

“Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”

And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-42 (NKJV)

*This post was inspired by Matthew Henry’s commentary on this passage of scripture.[1]

Many people often read this story and relate to one of the characters, either Martha or Mary. I relate to Martha. In fact, in the same situation, I can’t say that I would’ve reacted much differently than Martha did. If I was working hard and somebody else was just sitting around leaving me to do all the work by myself, I would’ve been irritated too! This is why it’s always been pretty convicting for me when I read this.

However, I think all too often most people read this story like I did and think it’s a lesson of how Martha was bad and Mary was good. Then about 5 years ago I got a different take on this story after reading Matthew Henry’s commentary. This isn’t a story of good versus bad. It’s a story of priorities.

Martha and Mary had very different personalities. Martha was probably a perfectionist (as many of us are), and Mary was probably a little more relaxed and laid back. Differences in personality are not wrong or bad. God does not want us to change our personalities—He just wants us to fix our priorities. Jesus wasn’t asking Martha to be more like Mary–He was just pointing out that Mary had correct priorities. Jesus also did not say that what Martha was doing wasn’t important—He just said “one thing” was necessary or needful (which was time with him or making him a priority). Like Martha, it’s so easy for us to get busy with the many things of life and miss out on the “one thing” that is the most important—time with the Lord. 

It’s easy to get busy and miss out on the most important “one thing” —time with God.

Click To Tweet

Admirable things about Martha

Continue reading →