Keep Away From idols.

By: Keefe Wilson

Friday, April 18, 2025

Dear children, keep yourselves from idols. 1 John 5:21

In the military, when you arrive at a new duty station, you receive a safety briefing warning you about local hazards. When we arrived in Okinawa, we were specifically warned to stay away from the seawall during rough seas and typhoons. Large waves are dangerous, even for experienced swimmers. Everyone on the base receives that safety briefing.

During a typhoon watch, a 911 call came in. Four service members disregarded that warning and went surfing near the sea wall. They got swept away by large waves, and the strong current had dragged them out to sea. Emergency crews frantically searched the area, but they washed ashore days later, 5–10 miles away from where they were surfing. It was a tragic accident, but they lost their lives by ignoring that safety warning.

Have you ever ignored a warning? Were you warned to stay away from certain things? The NLT words 1 John 5:21 like this; "keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts." In other words, we must stay alert and guard our hearts against anything that takes our focus off God. It's an important warning because idolatry is alive and well today. We may place something or someone above God without even knowing it... We may not have meant to, but it's still idolatry. Idols aren't usually statues; it's something that captures our heart and devotion and takes our attention away from God. Satan's uses idolatry to distract us and drag us away from God.

In ancient times, idols were carved images. Today, they are disguised as our possessions, relationships, and careers. Social media and politics can become idols if we spend too much time thinking about them. It's easy to miss modern idols in plain view because our enemy carefully disguises them. For instance, political idolatry can slip in unnoticed if we get overly invested in civil causes and ideologies. Remember, God calls us to love one another and place ALL our trust in Him!

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." Matthew 22:37

As Christ followers, we must never allow our personal opinions to replace God's convictions. If we do, we are placing our hope, trust, and identity in an idol instead of God. Consider this: Idols offer false promises of security, identity, and fulfillment, then leave us feeling empty and disappointed and pull us away from God. The best way to stay away from idols is to intentionally fix our eyes on Jesus.

Remember, God controls all things, so put Him above EVERYTHING!