“These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did, or worship idols as some of them did. ”

(1 Corinthians 10:6-7)

Everyone has a god or maybe many god(s). Even atheists have something they believe in. Maybe it’s themselves, their possessions, their career, or something else. But everyone has something that drives them. Something they get up in the morning for. Something they live for.

The question for all of us is who or what do you believe in the most?

The Lord demands to rule in our hearts. Everything else must be a distant second. As Christians our motto should be as the Apostle Paul when to the Philippians he says, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Phil 1:21)

An idol is anything or anyone that keeps Christ from being our #1 priority.

We see the difficulty in living this out through the story of the Israelites. God delivers them from Egypt, parts the Red Sea for them and not the Egyptian army, provided manna each morning at their doorstep. Still the Israelites, after seeing so many miracles, struggled with keeping God first in their lives.

That’s because faith doesn’t actually come down to what we can see even if that is miraculous. It comes down to having an assurance of hope in what we cannot see.

Our lives are filled with so many things we call blessings. Let’s guard ourselves to make sure we don’t fall prey to the subtle trap of idolatry by turning what we call blessings into a replacement for our #1 priority, Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.