RPG Adults
KEEP YOURSELVES FROM IDOLS (I)
TUESDAY, AUGUST 22
1 John 5:18-21
1 John 5: 21
“Keep yourselves from idols.”
KEEP YOURSELVES FROM IDOLS (I)
“For all the gods of the people are idols: but the LORD made the heavens” (1 Chron 16:26; Ps 96:5). The God of the Bible is the living and true God, and He hates idolatry as it is an abomination to Him (Deut 7:25, 16:22; 1 Thess 1:9). When Paul was in Athens, “his spirit was stirred (provoked to anger) in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry” (Acts 17:16). We can see the world is full of idolatry, not only in man-made religions with statues, images and pictures but also in the hearts of men with all kinds of “idols” such as their loved ones, their self image, name, fame, titles, popularity, high positions, wealth, worldly entertainments or pleasures, a movie star, a pop star or a sports star, etc.
God is very angry with idolatry, so was His servant Paul. How about us? Do we have that same spirit? On the Judgment Day, idolaters will be condemned to Hell (Rev 21:8). God commands us to “flee from idolatry” (1 Cor 10:14), and “keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21).
God’s first and second commandments say, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” and “Thou shall not make unto thee any graven image…Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God” (Exod 20:3-5). And our Lord Jesus summarises the first and great commandment, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength” (Mark 12:30). Truly, if we love God first and above all, we will worship Him alone without any image or idol, honour and exalt God’s Name alone, keep His Day holy, and obey His Word (John 14:21, 23).
THOUGHT: God hates idolatry. All idolaters will be condemned to Hell.
PRAYER: Father, please keep me from all idols.