Years ago, I saw a commercial which was made with the goal of getting kids off drugs. It was providing an opportunity for kids in the area to get involved with a baseball league. Pretty clever idea. Maybe the kids will have something constructive to do with their lives now, and something much safer. Taking drugs is dangerous, no matter how you slice it.
The subject of idolatry is interesting. It has to do with what we worship. God created us to be worshipers, which means that each one of us will have something we trust in, something we are attached to, and something we are devoted to. There are many idols, but there is only one true and living God.
The great commandment says to 'love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength'. The commandment that goes with it says to 'love our neighbor as we love ourselves'. When it boils down to the basics of life, we either love God, or we love something else. Our love for God is reflected in the way we love and treat others.
The 10 Commandments are based on the great commandment. If we love God, we would easily obey the commandments. If we love others we will easily obey the commandments.
In Jeremiah 2, verse 13, we read about the Israelites turning away from the living water, and creating their own cisterns (water holders). They were also looking for something else to fill the cisterns with. They didn't want them to be filled with living water.
We are like that today. Everyone looks for meaning somewhere. We create ways that we think will provide meaning and security for ourselves. We devise things that we think will make us happy. We resist God because we think He want us miserable (another lie of the Enemy of our souls).
I hope you noticed something in the first paragraph. All of us would agree that drugs are dangerous and we would do anything to get our kids away from drugs. If it takes joining a baseball league, we would do that. But here's the problem; we are replacing one idol with another. We are taking the idol of drugs and replacing it with baseball. There is nothing wrong with baseball. Baseball is a fine game for people to play. But in this case, it is taking those on drugs and giving them something else to love. It is giving kids on drugs something else to live for. It might be good if it provides protection from the dangers of drugs, but it is ultimately not solving the problem.
What we should do, is turn from drugs to God. That is why God created the drug user in the first place. God is the true living water that can fill the heart and soul. If we look to baseball to fill our souls, we are going to be disappointed later on.
There are so many varieties of idols and we are tempted every day to employ them. God wants us to 'taste and see that the Lord is good'. He wants us to drink of the living waters. He wants us to know Him deeply. When we come to that place in our hearts, no idol will ever match, no matter how good the idol is.
What is it that you and I love? What are we devoted to? What do we live for? If it is not God, why not turn to Him and take time to listen to Him. We can let go of our idols, the good ones as well as the bad ones, and we can be true worshipers of God.
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