1 Thessalonians 1:9 For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;
If we are going to turn from our idols we must know what or who they are. And if we are going to turn to the living and true God, we must respond to Him when He makes himself available.
Isaiah 55:6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
Power Bible definition of an idol: An image (i.e. for worship); by implication, a heathen god, or (plural) the worship of such: Notice that images are not the real thing and that they have none of the power of the true and living God.
Psalms 135:15 The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. 16 They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not; 17 They have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths. 18 They that make them are like unto them: so is every one that trusteth in them.
Tim Keller states in his book *Counterfeit Gods,* an idol is *anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, and anything that you seek to give you what only God can give.* Essentially, an idol can be anything that takes the place of God as the most important focus and priority in our life.
My definitions: An idol is a powerless substitute for God, anything that we put above God, make more important than God, replace Him or make Him irrelevant. Even good things can be idols. Name a few idols you have turned from, things that kept you from God. Here are a few of mine: wealth, pleasure, sports, food, sinful friends and activities, unbiblical churches and pastors, sinful habits, alcohol, nicotine and on and on. If God hasn’t replaced any of your idols, you have not truly turned to Him. Turning from idols and forsaking them as God points them out to us should be a Christian’s way of life.
