Guard Yourselves

1 John 5:21 - "Little children, guard yourselves from idols."

Anything that can take our time, energy, resources or affection can become an idol in our lives, and if God doesn't have our complete devotion it's because someone or something else does. If I do not have the loving devotion to God that I should then I need to search my life and figure out what idol is stealing my devotion. We have already considered the command in 1 John 2:15 to not love the world or the things in the world, but beyond these things the Bible has more to say about things that can become idols to us. 

In several places in the gospels the Lord Jesus pointed out the reality of our relationships becoming idols in our lives, and He made it very clear that our relationship with God comes before anything else, even our relationship with our families. In Matthew 10:37 He said - "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me." I think that we can all understand that, as important as family is, our relationship with God is first. Obviously our love for God should be greater than our love for anyone else, but the Lord Jesus puts it in a different light in Luke 14:25-27 where we read - "Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple."" I'm sure this was difficult for those following Him to hear, and it can be difficult for us to hear as well. It's one thing to say that we have to love Him more than father or mother, son or daughter, but to say that our closest earthly relationships are to be consider hatred in comparison with our love for Him is pretty extreme. Nevertheless, this is what He expects. By the way, this is not saying that we make it our goal to love Him and hate everyone else. We know that love for God is inseparably tied to love for people, but we need to focus on putting Him first, letting Him have the preeminence and then He will make sure that everything else falls into place according to His will. This means that our relationship with Him is supreme and overrules any other relationship, no matter how close. This is radical, but the Lord Jesus knew that. He knew that there was a cost to follow Him and He didn't try to hide it. In fact, right after the Lord Jesus gave this startling statement in Luke 14 He goes on to say in verses 28-33 - "For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions." There is a cost to follow Christ. Are we willing to pay it? Will you put Him above any and everything else, including your closest relationships? Like I said, when we put Him above everything He will put our earthly relationships in their proper places. And this will not make those relationships any weaker, it will actually make them stronger. If a husband and wife are both giving Christ the preeminence their marriage will be strengthened, not weakened. They will grow in their love for one another as they grow in their love for the Lord and the Lord will cause their marriage to become a picture of His relationship with His bride, the church, as talked about in Ephesians chapter 5. When a child puts their relationship with God first they will seek to please Him by being obedient to His Word. And the Word of God tells children to honor and obey their parents, so giving Christ the preeminence is not going to draw children away from their parents but it's actually going to strengthen that relationship. We can scheme and plot on how we are going to strengthen our relationships, but if we simply recognize that one needful relationship, a love relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, and pursue Him with loving devotion, then He will make us what we need to be in regard to those earthly relationships. 

In Matthew chapter 8 there was a would-be follower of Christ who had to consider this very matter. In verses 21-23 we read - "Another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead.” When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him." In this passage the Lord Jesus is getting into a boat and preparing to cross to the other side of the sea. This disciple comes and essentially says, "I'll come with you, just wait for me. I have to go bury my father." Jesus has the opportunity to get another follower, how long could a burial service last? But the Lord Jesus responds to him in a rather shocking way by saying, “Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead.” If Jesus is trying to get the largest congregation at His church service then He needs to find a new outreach strategy, because that kind of statement sure isn't going to attract many followers. Now, there is obviously a deeper spiritual meaning to what the Lord Jesus is telling this man, but the decision here that this man now has to face is going to determine the course of his life. The Lord Jesus is Lord, and it is not appropriate to tell Him to wait for you to do anything, whether it's burying your father or anything else. If Christ is Lord then when He goes we follow, and no other relationship can stand in the way of that. So this man had to decide, the Lord Jesus is getting into the boat ready to set sail, do I go and bury my father or do I follow Jesus? We are not told what this man chose, but verse 23 is very instructive in telling us "When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him." That's what a disciple does. If this man was a true disciple of the Lord Jesus then he followed Him, no matter how hard of a choice it was. We are going to be faced with similar situations in our relationships, we need to determine now that He is first, that He has the preeminence in our lives, and trust Him to do what He will in our relationships. We need to put away the idol of earthly relationships, realizing that the pursuit of earthly relationships will draw us away from God, but the pursuit of God will make our earthly relationships what they need to be.  

Another thing that I just want to mention real quick that can become an idol in our lives is religion. This is the idol that the Scribes and Pharisees were worshiping. This was also the problem in the church at Ephesus in Revelation chapter 2. They became so concerned with the external form and ritual that they forgot the one needful thing of a close intimate relationship with God. Keeping their rules and rituals became more important to them than God Himself. We saw this quite a bit earlier on in our study of the church at Ephesus in Revelation chapter two, so I'll simply let you remember back to that study and be on your guard against letting your religious patterns become an idol in your life. If God doesn’t have your love it’s because someone or something else does.

1 John 5:21 - "Little children, guard yourselves from idols."