WEEK 17 MEMORY VERSE:
“Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.”
3 John 1:11

Monday, July 6, 2009
1 John 5:21
Keeping from Idols
In this one six-word verse, John gives us one of the most powerful commands/ pieces of advice to be found in all of God’s word. When he tells the believers of the 1st century to keep themselves from idols, the major issue is indeed the actual pagan idolatry that was typical of that day, complete with physical objects that represented deities, either in public places or private homes. To follow Christ meant turning from the practice of worshiping these idols, even though it was firmly embedded in the culture and in the psyche of these converts to Christ.
We have our own idols today, I’m afraid, and this scripture calls on us to give them the very same treatment. Whether our idols are materialism, fame, entertainment, pleasure, self, knowledge, reason, emotion, romantic love, security, respectability, other people, or something else, we have to turn our worship off everything else and give it only to Jesus, the one who is truly worthy of it. Ask God today to help you in identifying and dealing with your own idols.

Prayer Starter:
Lord, it is so easy to allow myself to be carried back into worshipping my idols. Help me to see when this is happening to me. Show me how to deal ruthlessly with my own worship of idols, that my heart may truly belong to you.