"Man's Transaction"

"The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men's hands." (Psalms 135:15)

  If you could, what would be the idol that you would bring to life? John ended his first epistle with this very stern warning, "Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen." Just before that, John said, "This is the true God, and eternal life." If you really stop and think about it, are love for God is a response to His love for us; so, on what basis do we justify our love to an idol? The word 'heathen' used here, is basically talking about Nations; which pretty much means a collective, or a mass, as apposed to an individual person. This is by far the most important difference between Christianity and other worldly religions: a personal relationship with God! The other religions of the world base their connection with God in reference to other people, or based upon the teachings of someone else, other than to true and living God. We that calls ourselves Christians, we base our faith upon the relationship that we have with Jesus Christ, God's Son! This is not only a game changer, this is the very essence of hope, hope that can actually deliver and act upon a promise; as if idols could even make a promise that actually means anything important! Most importantly, idols are anything that we have placed between us and God. To put that into a spiritual perspective: There is a God, the One in whom we are accountable to and that is our Judge; if there is anything between me and that God, the everything I want that to be is Christ Jesus, the One who sits at the right hand of the Father. Nothing else will do! The title above speaks about an exchange, which is very similar to the exchange that took place in the very beginning, that would be the exchange made in the Garden of Eden. This was that exchange of trading the personal relationship with God for that of the earth, or if you will, that which is tangible and temporary. It might be hard to see that connection, but Adam's curse defines the result. That is pretty much John's point, that we should never put anything that is temporary between us and the Eternal God...

"We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and he is eternal life. Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God's place in your hearts." (1 John 5:19-21) NLT