When I started to realize that idolatry wasn't just some antiquated, old concept but that it was the struggle, really, of life, it helped me understand a lot more about the stories in the Bible that deal with idolatry and the statements about idolatry. For instance, maybe the most famous section in scripture about idolatry is in Exodus, Chapter 32, where the Israelites, God's people in the Old Testament, are camped at the foot of Mount Sinai. And they're dancing around a golden calf. I like dancing as much as the next guy but dancing around cattle seemed a little silly. Didn't get it. But I started to understand that there's more that meets the eye there. 
For instance, what was this idol made out of? Gold. The people of Israel had melted all of their precious metals. Their earrings, their jewelry, their wealth. And poured it into this false God. And what was it fashioned into the image of? A golden calf. Well, that sounded kind of strange to me, too. Until I learned that in Egypt, where they had originally come from, there was this god named Apis, who was symbolized by a golden calf. And in Canaan, where they now had gone, there was another God named Baal, symbolized by a golden bull calf. In other words, this bull calf was a symbol of fertility, and power, and prosperity. 

And so what you have here with the Israelites at the foot of Mount Sinai, is a group of people who are really disappointed with God. They're frustrated with God. They don't understand what he's doing. And so they turn to power, and sex, and money to satisfy the restlessness that exists in their hearts. Hmmm. Turning to power, and sex, and money and thinking that those kinds of things can solve all the problems of your life. My, what an antiquated notion that is. Thank goodness we've progressed so far beyond that. Or am I basically describing the struggles in society today? Or maybe am I even describing the struggles that exist in your own house? How do we get beyond this? 

Idolatry isn't an ancient issue. It's a struggle that each of us faces every day. And so we have to ask ourselves questions like, "What is the thing in life that if I lost it, I would feel like life isn't worth living anymore?" Or, "What's the thing in life that I think, 'If I got that, I would have finally arrived. Life would finally be good. I'd finally be happy'?" If your answer those questions is something or someone other than Jesus Christ, the Bible says you've got yourself an idol. But don't worry, there's hope. Moses came down Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments in his hands, just in time to see the children of Israel dancing around that golden calf, breaking those very commands. But fifteen hundred years later, a deliverer who is greater than Moses, picked those broken commands up and marched them right back up another mountain. This time it was Mount Calvary. 

The Apostle Paul writes about this in Colossians 2:14, where he says, "Jesus picked up the written code that we broke and he cancelled it by nailing it to his cross" Because of what Jesus did, one day we are going to sing and dance and have a real party. But it's not going to be around some silly golden calf. We're going to dance. And we're going to sing. And we're going to party around our beautiful Lord and Savior. 

We'd love to hear about what modern idols you guys see today and what ones you struggle with. So please comment below here in our comments section and we'll see you tomorrow.