The First Commandment — Exodus 20:3

Millennia ago Stone Age tribes bowed at the altars of stone and wood, offering sacrifices and ascribing to their deity the power to alter natural events. They saw in their gods the authority that manipulated the events around them. They placated the powers with shed blood and reverence. But that was then, and this is now. We have long since outgrown such outmoded ways of thinking. We know well enough that there are no unseen deities bringing thunder and rain, success and failure, life and death. And we have adjusted our lives accordingly. Half a moment though. Is it possible that we have simply traded one set of gods for another? Are we really, deep within, just as incurable religious as ever, still bent in worship? Perhaps the difference between us and our ancient ancestors is not the fact of worship but the recognition of the reality and centrality of worship. Maybe now we “worship we know not what”. Perhaps we should take a look at our hearts with the realization that there may be unconscious idols in our lives. May the Spirit of God open our eyes to the idols in our souls.