After one reads the letters of Paul, the closing line of First John may catch some readers off guard (about as unusual as reading a bulletin article with that as the title). Every one of Paul’s letters (including Hebrews, if he wrote it) closes in almost the same way with the same appeal—“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” However, John concludes his first letter with this admonition—“Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”
Many early Christians carried the memories (and sometimes the habits) of a lifetime of serving idolatry into their new lives as children of God. Many brethren in Thessalonica “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (1 Thess. 1:9). Among those in the church in Corinth were those who once were “idolaters” (1 Cor. 6:9), as Paul reminds them, “such were some of you” (6:11).
Living in America, where it is not as common to see idols as we think of them (large statues or carved images of some kind), it may be hard for us to fully appreciate what these brethren had abandoned for the cause of Christ. But, the pull of idolatry was still very strong for them, as repeated warnings were issued throughout the New Testament—“flee from idolatry” (1 Cor. 10:14); “those who practice [idolatry] will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal. 5:20-21; cf. Eph. 5:5).
Sometimes we make the unfortunate and costly mistake of dismissing warnings against idolatry in the New Testament (like the one with which John closed his first letter), thinking that such is only for those who bow down to a stone or wooden image. But, we must recognize that God considers anything that commands or controls or dominates our lives to be a god. We may not physically bow down or pray to these things in our lives, but the Lord told us plainly that a practice or habit of our lives that supersedes the rightful place of God in our lives (He specifically mentioned “covetousness”) is “idolatry” (Col. 3:5).
In the Old Testament, God commanded, “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Ex. 20:3). In the New Testament, God commanded, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve…Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matt. 4:10; 6:33).
What place does God have in your life? Is there anything else in the way? Keep yourself from idols!