Idolatry - What are our idols today?

I have been reading in I and II Kings where idols are often mentioned.  It said the good kings walked in the way of the Lord.  Some of them took down the high places and destroyed the idols.  Others were good but did not remove the idols.  II Kings 23 talked about Josiah, a good king, who took down all the high places that Solomon had put up over 300 years before Josiah's reign.  The footnotes in my Bible said that we as parents should be very careful what we allow in our homes as our children will carry on with many of our traditions and ways.  

This started me thinking about idols.  What would our idols be today in our current world?  To answer my question I found an article entitled 'What are some modern forms of idolatry?' on Got Questions.org. I will summarize the article below.

1.  Materialism - is an idol today.  Acquiring stuff that we don't really need.  It is actually covetousness. God knows we will never be satisfied filling our materialistic desires.  Doing this is Satan's ploy to keep us focused on ourselves rather than God.    You shall not covet your neighbor's house.  You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. Exodus 20:17

2.  Our own pride and ego can be idols.  Often seen in trying to get to the top in our careers and jobs. We spend time pursuing them rather than taking care of our children and families and teaching them about God.    21 because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. 22 What has a man from call the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun? 23 For dall his days are full of sorrow, and his ework is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity. Ecclesiastes 2: 21-23

3.  We idolize mankind. We do this through science ( environmentalism, evolution, naturalism). Our focus shouldn't be on these things but on living holy lives while waiting for the Lord's return.     But the day of the Lord will come like a thief....What kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the of God ... 2 Peter 3:11,12

4.  We worship making self first to the exclusion of others and their needs and desires. We see this in self-indulgence by way of alcohol, drugs, and food. "The self-control we so desperately need is spurned in our insatiable desire to eat, drink, and medicate more and more. We resist any effort to get us to curb our appetites, and we are determined to make ourselves the god of our lives. Man's desire has been to be God. The worship of self is the basis of all modern idolatry." (Got Questions)   5 “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” Genesis 3:5

Our hearts and minds must be centered on God and others.....Matthew 22:37 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.    When we do this, there will be no room for idolatry. 

I am asking myself what are my idols. My desire is to love and serve and glorify God. What must I change in my life to do that better? What might you need to change in your life? 

 Last year I wrote a blog about leaving your flower pots and flower gardens covered with the old plants through the winter until spring.  This keeps the tiny seeds that have fallen from the old plants in the planters or garden and lets them compost in so they come back up in the spring.  

This flower garden was one that I built in the driveway a few years ago using lasagna gardening.  You put down cardboard where ever you want to plant.  Cover it in layers with leaves, manure, straw, grass clipping, and/or peat-moss.  I took the old-growth off of it in the spring and all of these flowers came back by themselves.  Most of them are annuals that I originally planted there about four years ago and that have come back by themselves but there are a few perennials too. 

In the spring I laid two soaker hoses in the flower garden that are attached to one hose that goes to the hydrant. When I water I just turn the hydrant on and let the soaker hoses run until the water runs out at the edges of the garden.  So easy and quick! 

Fun and easy way to garden! 

Four o'clocks - so fun, pretty and easy

I have had fun with four o'clocks for years! When we lived north of  Genoa we had them on the east side of the house and they came back year after year.  Then a few years ago my grandson gave me some seeds.  I planted them on the west side of the garden so that we see them from our house and yard.  They also have come back now for several years from the seeds that have dropped on the ground each fall.   I think they provide a little shade from the afternoon sun for the cucumbers I grow in the garden. 

Four o'clocks open up in the morning and again in the late afternoon.  They bloom from June to late into September and October. They can get about four feet tall if they are well watered. They have rather large seeds that can be picked up as they fall to the ground so that you can plant them elsewhere fairly easily.  I just let my seeds lay on the ground through the winter and they compost in and the new plants come up by themselves.  

Such fun and beauty that God has blessed us with!!