“And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this; but hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy Lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified:”
Daniel 5:22-23 KJV
“For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:”
Ephesians 5:5-8 KJV
Idolatry today, has crept into the body of Christ in both subtle and conscious ways. As people of God it seems many times as though we have forgotten our convictions. We do not consider our ways to assess whether they are pleasing unto God . The shame is that, we even go to the extent of accepting and assuming certain actions to be rightful while refusing to mirror with scripture. In this study, let us examine the ways in which we have swayed off from the truth of what idolatry entails.
From our scripture of study, the first most important aspect to notice is how idolatry breeds dishonor. What exactly do I mean by this? The world today thrives on systems, everything that has been set up with a longstanding effect, was invented as a system. Hence ensuring a continuous flow and production of the same behavior, patterns and characteristics over time. As a result people do not even realize the wrong since these have become normalized.
Idolatry in its many forms as we will be going through in the course of this study, has caused many to stumble without realizing. It has caused dishonor amongst believers, giving the world an opportunity to mockery as seen in recent events. From Belshazzar using the vessels of God for debauchery together with his subjects, this is evident of how much dishonoring God has been both deliberate and subconscious. Belshazzar being aware of how his father Nebuchadnezzar had been humbled by God for lifting himself up against the sovereign God, but yet acted contrary is typical for today’s believers. Our excuse has been the new covenant whereby we claim that through Christ our deeds are justified. What was an error in the past is still so, the sacrifice of Christ was not to deem old ways righteous but to reveal their effect and teach us to overcome them by the help of the Holy Spirit (Mathew 5:17, Galatians 3:17).
Beloved, when as vessels of God, we ignore past events and the consequences and make excuses by means of the new covenant, we tread under foot the sacrifice of Christ (Hebrews 10:22-28). The very same vessels by which we worship God, cannot be used to defile. Idolatry shows up in forms of lust, fornication, pride, and many more causing us to fall short of God’s original plan and glory. In the course of this study allow the Holy Spirit to guide you to uncover every aspect of your life, that does not glorify God. And unveil every conscious and unconscious way idolatry has crept into your life. Good morning Beloved.