Little Children, Guard Yourselves from Idols
Little Children, Guard Yourselves from Idols
“Little children, guard yourselves from idols.” 1 John 5:21
“These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.”
1 John 5:13-15
It’s hard not to make something more important than God. After all, we live in the world. It’s easy to get caught up in what we want to do. Submission to His will is harder than is harder than you think. I struggle with this every day. The things I want or the things I want to do pull at me constantly. It’s a result of my old-self.
I have to remind myself daily….
If it is not of God, it is an idol. No matter what you want to call it, how you want to justify it or what excuses you give it. If it is not of God, it is an idol.
Pride, fame, money, work, hobbies, material possessions, fitness, lust, covetousness - they can become idols.
It MUST bring glory to God.
Our sin is constant. Never ending. Without limitation. We will never stop sinning. So we must prepare for the battle.
God must be our priority. His sacrifice earns it. And even though this sacrifice is beyond priceless, we still choose our things over Godly things.
“If anyone sees his brother or sister committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will, for him, give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death; I am not saying that he should ask about that. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death.”
1 John 5:16-17
If what we do each day replaces our worship of God, or robs us of our time in front of God, then that thing has become our idol.
Most people feel content with 15-30 minutes a day in front of God.
Some see attending church as fulfilling their commitment. Or reading a daily devotion. Or praying for 5 minutes in the morning. Are we serving our God? Daily? Through what we do?
“We know that no one who has been born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”
1 John 5:18-19
We should give our first fruits.
We should be in constant prayer, communion and subjection.
We should die to ourselves daily.
We should be bringing glory to God in everything we do. Without limit. Without excuse. Without having to justify it.
We must hold our brothers and sisters accountable. We must hold ourselves to a higher standard. Weak mindedness is no longer tolerable. Doing barely enough is not worthy.
“And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. Little children, guard yourselves from idols.”
1 John 5:20-21
After all,
We ARE His little children.