| QUOTE (Exodus 20:2-6 @ NIV) |
I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
You shall have no other gods before me.
You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments. |
| QUOTE (American Heritage Dictionary) |
| 1a. An image used as an object of worship. b. A false god. 2. One that is adored, often blindly or excessively. 3. Something visible but without substance. |
How many of us devote as many hours as possible to furthering the Kingdom? I wish it was easy to spend 24 hours every day doing His work. Temptations surround me to take time away from His work. TV, movies, gaming... These are not sins in and of themselves, but the time I have spent devoted to Civilization III or watching Star Wars (Episodes 1-6) has been a problem in my life.
When does idle time become idol time? If you allow something to become more important than God - it becomes an idol. When I played CivIII, I was always thinking about this world my computer had created. It was a place to which I could escape. It consumed me. When I was spending time with my family, I was thinking about how I could defeat the enemy. When I was in church, I was thinking about how weak that city is making it easy pickin's. When I was driving, I was thinking about how that jerk Xerxes just attacked me for no reason right before I shut down last night.
How, then, do we determine when something has crossed the line? Well, in my case, my wife was giving me a heads-up. She told me I was spending too much time playing the game. So, I told her I would quit and continued playing in secret. The game was more important than anything in my life. I began to secretly wish she would divorce me so I could play my game in peace. :whistle: My idea of a perfect weekend (or week or month or year) alone was playing the game 24x7x365. My addiction to the game had crossed the line.
It took drastic action on my part to remove the temptation to play the game. I gave away the CD and deleted it from my computer. I can no longer install it, nor can I play it. I have felt a great weight lifted from my shoulders. I no longer have to worry about this civilization that only exists in an electronic form. I can also spend time with my family without wishing they were gone.
The last year without the game has been much better. I have been learning how to discipline myself so that I am devoted to something real instead of something imaginary. I have begun a constant effort to devote my life to the furthering of the Kingdom. I do this mostly by teaching my children. I also provide an ear to those who wish to talk about problems. I have time to read scripture. I have time to write devotionals. :)
God has been removing idle time from my life so I have no more idols. I pray He does the same for you.