1 Corinthians 10:14 - What Idols Do You Need To Flee From?
1 Corinthians 10:14 (NKJV) Therefore, my
beloved, flee from idolatry.
1 Corinthians 10:14 (NIV) Therefore, my dear
friends, flee from idolatry.
1 Corinthians 10:14 (AMP) Therefore, my
dearly beloved, shun (keep clear away from, avoid
by flight if need be) any sort of idolatry (of
loving or venerating anything more than God).
INTRODUCTION
Idol worship was the major expression of
religion in Corinth. There were several pagan temples
in the city, and they were very popular. The
statues of wood or stone were not evil in
themselves, but people gave them credit for what only
God could do, such as provide good weather,
crops, and children. Idolatry is still a serious
problem today, but it takes a different form. We
don't put our trust in statues of wood and stone
but in paper money and plastic cards. Putting
our trust in anything but God is idolatry. Our
modern idols are those symbols of power, pleasure,
or prestige that we so highly regard. When we
understand contemporary parallels to idolatry, Paul's
words to "flee from the worship of idols" become
much more meaningful. [Life Application SB]
COMMENTARY PEARL
I used to think the Old Testament Bible
prohibition against idols in the Ten Commandments
(Exodus 20:4) was all about actual statuary. Carved
icons, totem poles, golden calves - no problem. I
wasn't bowing down to any statue hewn from human
hands.
Or was I?
Turns out, idols are sometimes disguised
as good things: a significant other, children,
jobs, money, friends, parents, church, a
particular lifestyle and yes, sports figures and
other celebrities. Potentially less-friendly idols
include items that can turn into addictions, such as
food, alcohol, sex, or gambling. Bowing to them
means submitting, or as Merriam-Webster bracingly
puts it, "agreeing to the demands of" this or
that, him or her. Ouch.
Unfortunately, I've had a lifetime of
idols to which I freely gave precedence over
seeking Jesus, bowing deeply to their demands. What
I've learned is that idols break, tarnish,
disappoint, and sometimes destroy. They fail to deliver
the promised satisfaction in the long run. The
persistent expectation that they were enough left me
feeling bitter, depressed, disillusioned, and
longing for something more substantial to make me
feel whole. Meanwhile, Jesus waited patiently for
me to figure out that what I was really after
was Him.
The idol prohibition isn't about Jesus's
vanity or denying me any good things. It's about
reorienting my priorities to what guarantees fulfillment
over the long haul when the things I've made into
idols fail. Isabella Campolattaro
Faith Step: Draw or use magazines to
collage a totem pole of the different things you've
made into idols. Ask Jesus to help you regain
perspective and priorities. Then burn the page.
[Mornings With Jesus 2024 Devotional by Guideposts and
Zondervan]
COMMENTARY
Gods people have so long been led by the
inventions and fashions of the world that they are
unwilling to move out independent of them. When I
study the Scriptures, I am alarmed for the Israel
of God in these last days. They are exhorted to
flee from idolatry. I fear that they are asleep
and so conformed to the world that it would be
difficult to discern between him that serveth God and
him that serveth Him not. The distance is
widening between Christ and His people, and lessening
between them and the world. The marks of distinction
between Christs professed people and the world
have almost disappeared. Like ancient Israel,
they follow after the abominations of the nations
around them. 1T277
ILLUSTRATION
DEET
Study the label on most insect and tick
repellents these days and you are sure to find DEET
listed as an active ingredient. In use now for more
than 60 years, DEET is a light-yellow oil
developed by the United States Army to protect troops
who have to spend time in mosquito-infested
tropical jungles. DEET (N, N-diethyl-meta-toluamide)
appears at various percentages in most commercial
repellents because it works. You put it on your skin or
your clothes to keep mosquitoes and ticks from
biting and passing on one or more of the numerous
serious diseases that they transmit, such as
malaria, yellow fever, encephalitis, dengue fever,
and West Nile virus. But how does DEET work?
Finding the answer to that question has been
difficult.
Some studies suggested that DEET inhibits
the mosquito's ability to smell us. Other
results seemed to show that mosquitoes simply don't
like the smell of DEET. Research indicates that
the plume of carbon dioxide emanating from an
animal's body attracts the insects. If you are
outside in a mosquito-infested environment, you can
watch mosquitoes pick up the scent downwind of
where you are standing, and they simply follow the
growing concentration of CO2 till they get dose
enough to land. The first studies suggested that
DEET blocked the ability of mosquitoes to detect
CO2, but that doesn't seem to be the case now.
In addition to CO2, several other
volatile body-odor chemicals boil off of our skin.
They include 1-octen-3-ol, lactic acid, and other
compounds produced by sweat and skin bacteria.
Mosquitoes have lots of specialized chemical detectors
on their antennae tuned to these chemicals so
that they can home in and get their next blood
meal.
The latest research by entomologists at
the University of California and University of
Arizona working together have discovered another
chemical receptor, a short hairlike structure on
mosquitoes' antennae, that is extremely sensitive to
DEET at very low levels and signals more rapidly
as DEET levels increase. Results from these
careful studies have ruled out the masking effect
that DEET was thought to have had. The report
makes a good case that mosquitoes have the
neurological equipment to smell DEED and simply avoid it
if possible.
Wouldn't it be nice to have an ample
supply of sin DEET? With that, sin would be both
detectable and detestable. The good news is that it
exists. It is called the mind of Christ.
Lord Jesus, give me, I pray, a sharply
tuned sin detector (conscience). [God of Wonders
by David Steen]
LINKS FOR FURTHER STUDY
1 John 5:21 - KEEP YOURSELVES FROM IDOLS.
https://www.abible.com/devotions/2022/20220605-1052.html
2 Timothy 2:22 - Flee Temptation to Jesus!
https://www.abible.com/devotions/2020/20200527-0849.html
1 Corinthians 6:18 - Flee Sexual Sin.
https://www.abible.com/devotions/2016/20160518-0838.html
1 Corinthians 10:13 - Temptation Comes with
Limits and a Way of Escape.
https://www.abible.com/devotions/2023/20230615-0856.html
LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT
https://abible.com/links/
