I Practice Idolatry?

 Tip: For concert photography, shoot with high ISO numbers, open your aperture as wide as you can, and take a lot of test images with different shutter speeds to see how high of one you can get before your image goes dark. The higher your shutter speed, the less blurring will happen.

A couple of friends and I drove two hours and stood in a massive line to get into the concert hall. The adrenaline rush I experienced as I neared the door to the stage room was comparable to the feeling you get just as you reach the top of the first hill on a roller coaster (minus the terror). I was SO thrilled that it was happening: we were moments away from seeing one of my absolute favorite musicians play!

Hold up, there; doesn't God deserve some excitement? Do we ever feel thrilled at the privilege of going to Him in prayer? Are we filled with anticipation when we are about to open His word and read about the great things our Creator has done and learn how we can better please Him with our lives? We ought to at least be gladly looking forward to these activities, even if we aren't bursting with adrenaline over them.

In Exodus 20:3, our Lord states, "you shall have no other gods before Me". While worshiping handmade idols might not be an issue in your life, it is very possible that you may still be unwittingly participating in idolatry; anyone or anything that takes precedence over God in your life can be an idol. Will you put down your Bible the second you receive a text message or social media notification? Do you forsake spending time in prayer so that you will have a little extra time to spend hanging out with people or playing games? Or perhaps take credit for yourself that ought to be directed back to your Creator? I've been guilty of all of those- sometimes I still am.

Today, let your prayer be that God would forgive you of the idolatry that seeps into your life, and that He would give you the ability to live out today for the glory of His name.

"So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the gory of God." (1 Corinthians 10:31)