Throughout the history of the Israelites they fell into and engaged in idol worship. While most of them were bowing to, sacrificing to, and praising these false Gods it is probably safe to assume that (for many of them) most of them engaged in idol worship to achieve the true idol in their lives. These true idols could have been any number of things; wealth, affection of a lover, acceptance, safety, respect, pleasure, book, or even just pride.
In the end I do not think that it matters what an idol is. It separates the child of God from their Heavenly Father. God wants our worship and He detests anything that comes between us (Deuteronomy 4:24). Over and over when Israel placed something in the place where God should be (Ezekiel 14:4-8) God has crushed (Ezekiel 15:8) those that would not repent and turn to Him again. He has destroyed the things that separated His people from Him.
God is hurt (Ezekiel 6:9) when his people abandon Him. The God of the Heavens, The Creator, The Alpha and Omega, who loves us so much that he sacrificed His Son so that we could be with Him (John 3:16) is hurt when we place anything else before Him in our hearts.
When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was His answer was simple (Matthew 22:37). You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. God is to have the first place in our lives. Everything we are commanded to do boils down to that one simple fact. Anything that comes between us and the Father will cause harm to us and to our witness (Psalm 106:36, Jonah 2:8, 1 Corinthians 8:4-12), and we are told to avoid these things (Acts 15:20, 1 John 5:21).
What a person worships (and it may be more than one thing) is the focus of their thoughts and actions. They take measures to spend time around it, get more of it, and/or learn more about it. It is what gives them comfort and joy. Their hopes are based on it. What a person worships is something that they cannot simply give up. They live for it.
Sometimes our hearts become so hard that we do not realize when an idol has taken our love, worship, and praise from God until God removes the idol and makes the “land” (and our hearts) desolate.
When we repent and restore God to the first place in our hearts, He will restore us and care for us (Hosea 6:1, 2 Corinthians 6:16).
This world will do all that it can to separate us from God. We are constantly bombarded with indoctrination telling us that we need to have a secure financial future, be good looking, find the perfect mate, feel good about ourselves, we have the right to be happy, enjoy a game, save the planet, be tolerant, etc, etc, etc. Many of the things that the world tries to make the focus of our hearts are good things and worth working for, but only with God as the Lord of our lives can we avoid the snares of this world. When our hearts, souls, and minds are bent to loving God, He will take care of the rest (Matthew 6:33).
In the end I do not think that it matters what an idol is. It separates the child of God from their Heavenly Father. God wants our worship and He detests anything that comes between us (Deuteronomy 4:24). Over and over when Israel placed something in the place where God should be (Ezekiel 14:4-8) God has crushed (Ezekiel 15:8) those that would not repent and turn to Him again. He has destroyed the things that separated His people from Him.
God is hurt (Ezekiel 6:9) when his people abandon Him. The God of the Heavens, The Creator, The Alpha and Omega, who loves us so much that he sacrificed His Son so that we could be with Him (John 3:16) is hurt when we place anything else before Him in our hearts.
When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was His answer was simple (Matthew 22:37). You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. God is to have the first place in our lives. Everything we are commanded to do boils down to that one simple fact. Anything that comes between us and the Father will cause harm to us and to our witness (Psalm 106:36, Jonah 2:8, 1 Corinthians 8:4-12), and we are told to avoid these things (Acts 15:20, 1 John 5:21).
What a person worships (and it may be more than one thing) is the focus of their thoughts and actions. They take measures to spend time around it, get more of it, and/or learn more about it. It is what gives them comfort and joy. Their hopes are based on it. What a person worships is something that they cannot simply give up. They live for it.
Sometimes our hearts become so hard that we do not realize when an idol has taken our love, worship, and praise from God until God removes the idol and makes the “land” (and our hearts) desolate.
When we repent and restore God to the first place in our hearts, He will restore us and care for us (Hosea 6:1, 2 Corinthians 6:16).
This world will do all that it can to separate us from God. We are constantly bombarded with indoctrination telling us that we need to have a secure financial future, be good looking, find the perfect mate, feel good about ourselves, we have the right to be happy, enjoy a game, save the planet, be tolerant, etc, etc, etc. Many of the things that the world tries to make the focus of our hearts are good things and worth working for, but only with God as the Lord of our lives can we avoid the snares of this world. When our hearts, souls, and minds are bent to loving God, He will take care of the rest (Matthew 6:33).