SNEAKY IDOLS

Today's reading: Daniel 7-12

"The next to come to power will be a despicable man who is not directly in line for royal succession. But he will slip in when least expected and take over the kingdom by flattery and intrigue." Daniel 11:21 NLT

Not all idols are shiny, little statues that sit quietly on shelves lined with votive candles.

They don't all require that we rub their bellies, offer them tokens of our appreciation or ask that we bow to them three times a day at the sounding of a trumpet blast.

Some idols, the ones that are probably most worshiped by us, slip in quietly, unassumingly and over time.

They are the things that look least like the idols we've always watched out for.

They are good things. Nice things. Things given to us by the Lord.

But they are merely the gifts, not the Giver.

They are blessings, not the One who bestows blessings.

They are the outpourings of His love for us.

And we, in our desire to worship something, wrongly worship them, not Him.

I'm determining today to watch for these sneaky idols in my life. I want to identify what I place above and before God and ferret them out, so I can take them off the altar of my life.

I want God to make we well aware of what's taken His place in my heart and mind.

I want Him to make me well aware of what has flattered and intrigued me in an effort to take my eyes of of Him.

I challenge you to do the same. May, at the end of the day, we both be convicted, humbled, repentant and corrected by what He shows us.