Idols? Lord let us be a generation who seeks Your face!

During the old Testament, the people were very fond of built idols-statues. Their idols were statues carved as human or animal faces (common carvings). Why do they fancy golden or silver statues which cannot be moved? It seems meaningless to us to worship and bow before idols during this modern time.

Let us look at the contents of a human being. There is a body, soul and spirit. The body is conscious of the world and how it thinks about the body. We have our 5 senses: touch, sight, hearing, tasting and smelling. We are capable of reacting to the environment or known as the physical surrounding. That is why we wear clothes to cover our shame and protect our body from physical harm.
Secondly, there is the soul. The soul is knowledge conscious. It is a bridge between the spirit and the body. It is also self conscious. It is the humans' mind, will and emotions. The mind functions to think, understand and reason; the will is the ability to choose and make decisions; our emotions are feelings as a result of our attitude, whether good or bad.
Thirdly, the spirit is God conscious. We have to commune, have conscience and intuition in the spirit. To commune is to spend time with God. For our conscience, it guides us and it will 'kill' us when we sin. And our intuitions let us feel or know that something is going to happen.
All these makes up a human being.

God has planted a desire to worship in us. What is worship? Worship is a relevant honor and homage paid to God or a sacred personage. (Dictionary.com) That is why we have different religions in the world. When man was created at the very beginning, he is curious of the surrounding. Anything that looked unique, different or surprising will arouse a feeling of adoration towards that thing. Man gets attracted it through sight (physical). The mind will start to think, his will choose to worship. This in turn stirs the spirit- they will worship in adoration to satisfy this desire to worship.

In the Old Testament, the Lord was very angry and jealous because Hid people turned away from Him even though He has shown His mercy and grace to them uncountable times. They worshiped idols (an image used as an object of worship; something visible but without substance-Dictionary.com). The Lord spoke to His people through many prophets but their hearts were hardened and stubborn. They would rather worship a god whom they can see but has no power or life in it than to worship the Almighty God who cannot be seen but would save them if they repented. In 2 Corinthians 4:18- "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." Hence, the idols they built can be destroyed easily:

1 Samuel 5:3-5, "When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the Ark of the Lord! They took Dagon and put him back in his place. But the following morning when they arose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! His head had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained. That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor any others who enter Dagon's temple at Ashdod step on the threshold."

That was one of their gods in the years long ago. They thought their gods would save and do miracles for them (1 Kings 18:21-40). Indeed the Lord is God, all glory to Him!

So then, what are our gods in this modern time? Some might be free thinkers, and any religion- those who do not bow down to idols or burn sacrifices. But we sacrifice our time, money, friendship, relationships and etc to our gods. What then are our gods? Perhaps the Internet, cell phone, MP4, hobbies,future,goals and etc? How much sacrifices have we offered for all these?

Our god can also be in human form- someone whom we admire. Singers, actors, actresses, pop stars and famous people. They may motivate us but not till the extent of making them our god. Lord, let our eyes be opened so that we may see the truth!

All our gods will fail us. It will never satisfy our desire-to worship. Therefore are we worshipping gods who only last for a while; who do not love us; who cannot save us in times of trouble; who do not know us by name; who do not save us from the eternal fire; who do not appreciate our sacrifices; and who is NOT ALIVE AT ALL?

May our prayers be: "Lord, open our spiritual eyes and give us the spirit of discernment, a wise mind and a desire that should please You. Lord we cast down our idols! (1 John 5:21)"