Special Dog's Idol Factory....Downsized....But Still In Business

                The average idol that a family might have in their house in ancient Israel would have been about 4 to 6 inches tall....small enough to fit into the palm of the hand. The Oscar....is 13.5 inches tall....with eyes that cannot see....and ears that cannot hear....and a mouth that cannot speak....holding a sword that cannot cut.
                I have had many and various idols over my long life....and still do. They are hard to do away with....and I will never be totally free of them. Some of them I try to hide from God....some of them I try to tell God that they can be of use to the spread of the gospel. Some of them I keep and congratulate myself because they used be twice or ten times as big.
                Calvin described man's mind as an idol factory. My son was an idol at one time....now he's just a hero....(yes our children can be powerful idols)....as was my physical fitness....my hair....(believe it or not)....and even my smile....before God marred its appearance....thankfully.
                 We need the preached Word to identify the idols in our life....for therein is the two-edged sword that can cut...."living and active"....(unlike Oscar or a gold medal or a house or a car or an ounce of gold)....that pierces....continuing in Hebrews 4:12.....of the ESV...."to the division of soul and of spirit....of joints and of marrow....and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."
                  We need that preaching as a lamb needs a shepherd....but as Jesus warned the people....they had "grown dull....their ears hard of hearing....and their eyes they have closed" ....(Matthew 13:15 NKJV)....they didn't....nor do we....desire to hear any more than we do....for if we did....we would be healed....little by little....of the idols that we collect....as a dog might collect fleas.