"Where Idolatry Begins"

 

Ezekiel 14:3-7 "Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by them ? Therefore speak unto them and say unto them, Thus saith the LORD GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols; that I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from ME through their idols. Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the LORD GOD; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations. For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from ME, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to enquire of him concerning ME; I the LORD will answer him by MYSELF:"

     Me ? An idolater ? No, never ! Would that not be the response of most people in our country if they were to be confronted with such an accusation ? Many a person today would insist that they could never be an idol worshiper, bowing before an image of wood or stone ! Yet, JEHOVAH GOD, in today's text, definitively addresses the starting point of idolatry. It begins when a person "setteth up his idols in his heart" (v.4). That is the place where idolatry takes root - in the heart. The prophet Jeremiah recorded that "the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it ?" (Jeremiah 17:9 pictured above). Before idolatry ever becomes outwardly tangible, it first manifests itself within the individual. "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he. . ." (Proverbs 23:7).

     Matthew Hery wrote, "We are that really, both to GOD and to man, which we are inwardly." Paul the Apostle spoke of those who did not want to keep GOD in their knowledge, leading them to change the "glory of the uncorruptible GOD into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things" (Romans 1:23). It is not a long journey from setting up idols in the heart to the actuality of visible, tangible objects beginning to be the attraction of our life. This can happen before we even comprehend that it is taking place. While we may not bow down to wooden carvings or bring our offerings to statues made of stone, as the pagans do, our personal idols include anything that turns us away from faithful service to the ONE TRUE GOD. Out of the heart proceeds all kinds of evil, including "covetousness, which is idolatry" (Colossians 3:5). "Little children, keep yourselves from idols, Amen." (1st.John 5:21 pictured above). JED

Your servant in CHRIST,

Julie

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