The reason we yield to idolatry in our own lives is not because we find idols attractive. God says that they can’t speak, hear, see, and lack strength (Ps. 115). No one becomes an overnight idolater. Idols are subtle in their deception. They offer a cheap alternative to the God of Israel. It is much easier to submit to a god that doesn’t talk than to a God that demands with his revealed Word your honor and worship. Idolatry of the heart is cheap. It consumes us little by little and soon we cease to speak, hear, see, and exercise our strength for the true God. We become like what we worship. We justify our sins with fervor because idols will never challenge us. This is why John ends his little letter with these words: “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”
