Excess Baggage

Exodus 20:4-6 "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. [5] You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, [6] but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments.

I got my first car on my 21st birthday and I idolised it. It was a metallic amethyst (grey/brown!!) Rover Metro and I washed it by hand every other day. Then I would polish it with real turtle wax. Every stone chip was methodically treated and covered up. By the end of the summer it gleamed. If I wanted to I could have used the bonnet instead of a mirror to shave in. I didn't do anything else that summer though - no holiday, no job and no girlfriend. I was too busy shampooing the car's upholstery and interior trim....

That's the danger of Idols; they consume our time and energy. We give time and energy to the things we love, and if the best of our time and energy is given to something other than God then we have created an idol. Jesus met a man once whose wealth was an idol. To others the man was a good guy, keeping the religious laws of his society. But he treasured his wealth; it was his security, a sign that he controlled his life, not God. His wealth was compromising his heart, and when Jesus encouraged him to sort out his internal condition he bottled it. Jesus remarked "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." Luke 18:24-25 Most people seem to agree that the eye of the needle was a small gate in Jerusalem's walls that was too short and narrow for a heavily laden camel to get through. For the beast to have a chance then it needed to take off all its saddle bags and jars, and bend down - even then it would be a bit of a squeeze. Too many of us may be like the camel. Too many of us may be carrying excess baggage, an idol that demands our time and energy and takes it away from loving God with all our hearts, soul, strength and minds. For the man Jesus met it was wealth - for us it could be our careers, our family, or even a hobby. With the help of the Spirit and the truth-talking of those who are close to us, we need to ruthlessly eliminate any trace of idolatry in our souls. We have to shed our excess baggage, and devote ourselves to the things that will stand for eternity.

Thing was, soon I lost the energy to keep my Metro shiny, in the autumn it rained to much and in the winter it got chipped too much from the grit - which also started to corrode the bodywork, and when it died seven years and 124,000 miles later it was dirty, scratched and rusty. I don't idolise my current car. We pay a local Kid £7 every other Saturday to do that for us…..