“Do not put your trust in idols or make metal images of gods for yourselves. I am the Lord your God.”

Icons have been around since the beginning of time.  Archeologists love to uncover the drawings and icons of the past.  Sometimes these icons became more and people turn them into idols of worship.  And, we don’t even recognize that these have become the icons of our time.  I watched yesterday as a person in a meeting, pulled out not one, but two new iphone 6’s.  The big ones.  The way he looked at and handled the phones, reinforced to me that many of the Apple products are now icons of our time and the smartphone is way beyond a singular icon.  It’s hard to know what will be next, but we are living in a time where the technology items that are created,  transcend being a service, or communication device.  They have become part of who we are.  Those who continue to recognize this power will find new and even more possibilities.

Jesus stands alone as an ageless icon.  I was listening to a comedian the other day and I heard him say, “I don’t know Jesus, but I’m pretty sure that He was the least commercial and materialistic person of His time.” He went on to then contrast the commercialization of Christmas as very much of an oxymoron of who Jesus was as man and God.  Even someone who claims to not know Him, knows exactly who He was. We are taught to have no other Lord nor idols.  So, we must be careful that people, jobs, materials, don’t become icons that we begin to creep towards worship. Without constant discipline, our culture wants us to do just the opposite of what God calls us to do.

Reference: Leviticus 19:4 (New Living Translation)