The Idols in Your Life

Exodus 20:3 (NKJV) You shall have no other gods before me.

Last night I wrote a poem, one specifically to be performed, and at the end, the very last line made me realise something: I allowed the gift God gave to me to become an idol. It wasn't something that happened overnight, and it wasn't a conscious move on my part. How I got there was, I began to spend more time in the poetic world, pushing to be better than my former self so I'd be seen and I'd get paid gigs, and whatever else would come with it. While doing all of that, I lost sight of God.

From my parents' account, I have been performing ever since I could talk. I would sit them down, along with a friend of theirs who would come to visit, and I would perform for them. At the age of 10, so I believe, I opted to go to the Poetry Club instead of the prep group for the Maths challenge that was coming up. I was to represent my school in a Maths competition, but I stood Maths up for poetry. Poetry has been with me for my entire life. I entered a poetry competition at the age of 11, and went to perform in America at that tender age.

Fast forward decades down the road, and here we are. Here I am, at a crossroad which has shown me where I was, where I am now, and with my bags, ready to venture with God to where he wants me to be. I performed to entertain. I loved the high I got from performing. I spent a lot of time performing, and this took me away from my home, the church, and ultimately, God.

The author of Hebrews said it very well in verse 25 of chapter 10, "not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching." I forsook assembling with others. I was no longer being exhorted and admonished to. I was no longer in the space where God was placed at the centre. Instead, I was in rooms where the clicks of fingers were the soul-winning prizes.

At my first book launch, I had the help of a friend whose life was centred around Christ; she prayed at the opening of that launch event. Unfortunately, as life had it, she wasn't able to help with the second launch, and adulthood led to loss of contact, or silence in contact. This meant she was no longer a part of my Christian walk, and sadly, I grew more distant from God. Please note, I am not saying she is the reason I grew distant; it's just that I wasn't secure in my walk, and the relationship I now have with God wasn't there at that time.

Over time, as I attended open mics, I wanted to be a featured performer. I wanted THAT sort of spotlight. Then I got invited to Canada to perform. I got invited to perform in councils and other non-poetry spaces. I loved those moments. They were great! I was able to do what I loved, but I was losing my love for God, especially as my circle of friends morphed.

This new circle of friends did things I didn't grow up seeing within my home. This group of friends didn't attribute their talent to God. This group of friends didn't consult the God I know. This group of friends didn't mention the God I know. My assembly had nothing to do with God, so, after a while, my lips would be pursed on the matter of God. Poetry became my focus. I stopped walking with my Bible; instead, I carried my notebook. In everything I saw a poem. In everyone, I saw a poem. In nothing did I see God. Instead, in all things, I saw this god, poetry.

How did I come to know this was an idol? Well, at least a month or two ago, I started to ask God the question, What have I made an idol of? I asked this continuously. The more I read my Bible, the more I questioned. The deeper I got, the more I started to think about the celebratory moments for the delivery from idolatry and slavery to sin. Eventually, God showed me, through a poem I fought so hard not to write. And while my mind is filled with evangelism, if the poetry never led me to have a conversation with anyone about God, if me being at the shows didn't make room for the conversations to happen, isn't this a clear sign that poetry was nothing more than an idol?

We must constantly go to God, be present, ask Him to audit our lives and show us what we have been placing above Him. An idol isn't just a statue; it can be your outfits, your appearance, your spouse, your children, your role at church, your job, the foods you eat, and many more. You don't have to run away from these things, but you will need to ask God for His help to get to a place where the idol or idols you have go back to being just your job, or just your spouse, where they aren't placed higher than God, but given the correct time and space in your day-to-day life.

Prayer Heavenly Father, creator of all things, I come to You as humbly as I know how.

Lord, I ask that you cleanse me and make me whole again, and while cleansing me, show me the things I have made an idol. I don't want to be left behind when Christ returns, so Lord, help me to draw closer to You, placing You above everything within my life, so Your light shines through me, bringing others closer to You.

This I ask, in Jesus' name. Amen.