False Promises of Idols

Psalm 115:9 says, “All you Israelites, trust in the Lord – he is their help and shield.” The idols in your life can’t and won’t ever deliver on what they promise. They always disappoint. They always leave you disillusioned. They cannot provide for you. They cannot protect you. You put your trust in God, because he is your helper and your shield. 

So, how do we do that? How do we live that way? Spiritual disciplines teach us to do this by helping us make room for God. They give us a greater desire for him. As our desire for him grows, our desire for these other things begins to become less. When we're not practicing spiritual disciplines, our hunger for the things of this world increases because we are not filled with godly things. By pursuing Jesus first, it has a way of helping us not worship these idols because we are able to recognize that these idols are cheap substitutes. 

About 200 years ago, there was a minister named Thomas Chalmers who preached a sermon discussing the secret to crushing idols in our lives. This sermon was called “The Expulsive Power of a New Affection”, and in this sermon, he makes the case that the way you defeat an idol in your life is not by focusing on defeating the idol. The way you crush it is to replace it. The way you crush an idol is to put Jesus in his right place. When we clear the stage of the things of this world, and give Jesus our attention and our affection, the things of earth grow strangely dim.

Reflection/Discussion Question: What is one step you can take today to displace one of the idols in your life?