Idols of the heart

“Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by them?” - Ezekiel 14v3


In the time of the kings one the key indicators of how much the king followed God was the extent to which the tore down the idols. When they did not break down the idols, trouble always remained and the sin of the land would rear its ugly head again. A pattern developed that a king would come in, make all kinds of reforms and changes, but he would not knock down the altars or the idols.

In Ezekiel’s time some men came to him for advice and for God’s word. God replied – “these men have idols in their hearts, because of those stumbling blocks I will not hear them.” Just like the kings of Israel and Judah made all kinds of religious reforms and tired to sort things out, so man can make all kinds of changes if he does not deal with the idols of his heart then he will never succeed.

As we examine our hearts today we need to look carefully and see if there are idols in our own hearts. What kind of idols might there be? If we are honest we can all identify idols or potential idols. Here is a partial list of idols which might be hidden there.

The idol of covetousness
The idol of discontent
The idol of sensuality
The idol of lust
The idol of self-centredness
The idol of greed
The idol of pride

Any of these idols and any number of other idols can be harboured in our hearts. If they are can we possibly think that God is going to hear us and bless our efforts? Do we have the cheek to ask Him for anything we have these heart idols hidden on the “god-shelves” of our hearts?

What are the idols of the heart that we are not dealing with/ May we, by the grace of God, do a thorough cleansing of our hearts and rid them completely of the idols there.