Hebrews 12:1 - 1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.
We continued our talk about idols tonight and how to practice idolatry is to actually hate God. We talked about jealousy and its meaning and how God is jealous when we have idols in our lives because He loves us so much and knows that we become like what we worship. If we worship God, we become like God. If we worship anything else, idols, we become like them.....nothing!
Then we went outside and decided to see if we could list as many idols between all of us as possible. We brainstormed about idols in Entertainment (sports, movies, music, TV, video games, hobbies, entertainment celebrities and personalities). Then we listed idols in technology (cell phones, Ipods, the computer, Facebook, games and apps). Next came physical health and fitness (diet and food worship, exercising or lifting weights too much to have a certain body, make-up, name-brand and expensive clothes, jewelry, spending a lot of time on our hair and looks).
For each idol we listed, we put a rock in a book bag. Our bag was pretty full by the time we were finished! Then we discussed Hebrews 12:1 and remembered from our Philippians study how Paul told us life was like a race and we were the runners Philippians 3:13-14, 2 Timothy 4:7). I asked each youth to then run around the educational building. Then each of them took a turn strapping the book bag full of "idols" to their backs and running around the educational building again. We talked about the difference in how it felt to run free from that weight of "sin" and how much easier it would be to win a race were we not weighted down by it.
For one final point, we attempted to fit all of our idol examples from last week's table into a small basket with the word Jesus on it. We had trouble enough getting all of the "stuff" to fit, let alone finding room for Jesus as well. Again, we reiterated that these "things" are not bad persay in and of themselves, but they become bad as idols in our lives when we allow them to take the place of Jesus....when they become more important to spend our time and money and efforts on them than spending those things on Jesus and what we can do in and for His kingdom.
Matthew 6:24 - 24 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money (things).
