Flee From Idols
SCRIPTURE: 1 Corinthians 10:14-22 
Read the passage
BIO: My name is Katy Becker and I am the part-time high school girl coordinator here at FPCO. I grew up in Orlando and moved back two and half years ago from going to college in South Carolina and then training horses in Vermont for a year. I just graduated with a Master in Biblical Studies from Reformed Theological Seminary. I am beyond blessed.
KEY VERSE: 1 Corinthians 10:14 "Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry."
CENTRAL TRUTH: Anything that is worshiped instead of God is an idol. When we sacrifice for the things of this world, we are choosing the wrong altar to prostrate ourselves upon.
DEVOTIONAL: Flee From Idols
In these passages Paul is talking about sacrificing to pagan alters and the tables of demons … we do not make blood sacrifices today, so what could this possibly be saying to us?
There was a time where all I wanted in the world was a horse. I prayed and prayed and prayed for one. I’ve never owned a horse. For years I could not understand why the Lord had not granted that gift … when I loved them so and wanted to work with them. But then one day in my first semester of seminary, when I was still balancing finances and the cost school, I realized why.
I got caught up in the old day dream of owning a show jumper, showing, and all the glory of the equine world. I thought to myself – if God had given me the blessing of a horse like that, I’d be able to sell it, and be set for seminary and beyond. You see, show jumpers are quite valuable. But then one of my most shameful realizations hit me. If I had owned a horse … no matter what the value … no matter if I could have provided for my own and other’s tuitions with the sale, I would not have sold the horse … even for God.
In that moment I realized what a hold they had on my heart and that in all the years of the Lord not granting me that one wish – He was protecting me from myself. When my heart was consumed with horses … they came first beyond everything else. I sacrificed much for that dream, and in the end had to sacrifice my love of horses.
So in these verses of Paul’s, I wonder. What do we sacrifice to and for today? It might not be an actual pagan golden alter … but I wonder what golden altars we’ve constructed in our lives and which idol rulers hold sway over our hearts.
Flee from idolatry, beloved, flee.
QUESTION 1: Do you think that this passage is relevant today? Why or why not?
QUESTION 2: Do you recognize an idol in your own life? What is it? When did this idol start to take a hold of your heart?
QUESTION 3: Do you want to let go of this idol? What is it going to take to help you let go?
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