The big sin in the Old Testament committed by the nation of Israel over and over again was idolatry. It is crazy the number of times that they would worship some pagan god, and Yahweh would allow them to be conquered by another nation. The Jews would then repent, and God would deliver them from their enemies, and then they would go right back to worshiping some pagan god again.

On a mission trip to Bangkok, Thailand, I saw stone statues of what looked like humans, and people would take gold leaf and stick it to the stone statue in places where they had pain, hoping that their own pain would go away as they bribed this stone god with their gold. As I watched people stick the gold to the head, back, or knee of these statues that had no life, I wondered how people could be so deceived.

Our idolatry is a bit more sophisticated; we worship money. Instead of stone statues, we worship paper with a President’s head on it. Instead of calling it idolatry, God calls it love of money or worldliness. The result is the same: God disciplines us by letting life conquer us.

God expects that we will worship Him only, and if any other god comes into our life He will destroy it and discipline us.