Why idols don't improve your life

June 13 - June 17, 2022 | Always Peachy Devotionals | Idols Week 2

Happy June, friends!

I hope your June is happy. Mine is currently very hot, although to be fair as I’m writing this is actually still May. But we’ve had our first week of 90-degree temperatures here in Kansas, and our house’s air conditioner gave up the ghost.

So Georgiana (my roommate’s 90-lb floof of a dog) and I are sweating it out in the blessedly cool basement.

I was really hesitant going into this study on idolatry. It can get into some sensitive areas, but it was so important for me to hold myself accountable that I thought it might be useful for others as well.

Idols are the worst. They are so insidious. You just never know when you’re going to find them in your life. At least, that’s been the case for me. And I suspect that it’s the case for everyone else too, especially if you believe the Bible.

Idolatry was something Israel constantly struggled with throughout Scripture. And I don’t think it was just because they wanted to flip God off intentionally. Idols feel powerful. We can see them, touch them, and hold them up for others to see. Plus, when everyone else is holding an idol up as something to worship, it’s so much easier to go along with it.

But the truth is that idols are harmful. Sure, they’re blocks of wood or stone or metal (although in our society they’re more like cultural movements or political figures or religious groups). But when you exchange your God-given right to follow Jesus for the dictates of public opinion, you’ve lost more than just God’s blessing.

This week we’re talking about why you shouldn’t allow people, places, or things to become idols in your life.

• June 13 - Idols can’t help you

• June 14 - Idols make you selfish

• June 15 - Idols need your help

• June 16 - Idols ask for too much

• June 17 - Idols poison your perspective

It’s a hard week. But a good week.

To go with it, we’re pulling our memory verse for the week from a familiar story about someone who made an idol of his own opinions. Our verse for this week is Jonah 2:8.

A sobering thought, right? That choosing to trust anyone else other than God forces you to abandon the mercy God offers us so freely? I don’t ever want to do that. I need all the mercy I can get!

I pray that you’ll encounter the Lord this week and that you’ll hear His voice in your life.

Blessings, my friends.

Amy

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