The Idols Can’t Stand

What “lofty things” are being “raised up against the “knowledge of God” today?

I’m fairly certain it’s the same lofty things that have always been used by satan to try and blind people from the knowledge of God.

• False wisdom
• Worldly riches
• Self righteousness
• Naturalism
• Lustful desires
• Thirst for power and control
• Vanity

Which of these idols have you allowed to be put in the high places of your life? Which one is impacting your family?

Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

1 John 2:15-17

What fortresses of speculation have you allowed to stand, in your sphere of influence, that blind others from the knowledge of God?

We must use prayer to win these battles against anything raised up against the knowledge of God in our life and in the life of others.

Driven by our desires, our words and actions reveal what we value the most. And instead of worshipping and praying to our God who provides for all our needs, we worship our desires instead. We focus our extra time and attention on those desires and forget the source of our salvation.

These desires become idols to us if the desired object is not being sought after for the glory of God or the good of His people.

Paul wrote to the church at Corinth about the way we are to battle against such things, and in Romans we are told that Jesus saves us from our sins.

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,

2 Corinthians 10:3‭-‬5 NASB

Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.

Romans 7:24-25

For an example of God’s anger when His people worship idols, see Exodus 3.

Idols of the Heart: Learning to Long for God Alone, Revised and Updated By Elyse M. Fitzpatrick