Exodus 20:4-5
You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God

Sometimes I just need to have my taquitos from Olvera Street, there is no way around it I just have to have it. Today was one of those days and luckily my husband had a free afternoon so we got in the car and onto the 5. Once their he waited in line and I started browsing the shops, when I spotted the “Guatemalan worry dolls”. Intrigued at their name I picked them up an took a closer look. The dolls were about 1 inch tall, and looked like stick people that a three year old put together. There were six colorful dolls in total and theycame with the following instructions “Tell one worry to each doll when you go to bed at night. Put them under your pillow and they will worry for you. When you get up in the morning, your worries will be gone”.

Pretty silly right? Who in their right mind would actually have any faith in these itsy bitsy dolls that cost a buck fifty – at Olvera Street. Who would put their faith in such an idol. Not me you say? Lets think about this.
Truth be told all of us have some idol issues going on. I would love to say that every time I am worried, stressed, sad, lonely, angry, frustrated, or any other ugly feeling my flesh can conjure up, I immediately go to God to find my peace.

Usually what happens when we feel down we either, get busy, go on the internet, watch T.V. , have a glass of wine, gossip, shop, overeat, the list goes on an on. But because these “methods” are small we don’t give them a second thought. We dont see that they are taking us away from going to God, and overtime these “methods” can become little idols. To complicate the issue if everyone else is doing it, these “methods” become common and we justify doing them. The next thing you know, you have developed a way of coping that has nothing to do with God.

So the next time you are tempted to give yourself a “passing grade” on the second commandment, check again. You just might have a worry doll under your pillow.

Dear heavenly Father; we know that if we are in Christ, there is no room for condemnation anymore. But let us not let guilt stop us from looking inward. Let us open all of ourselves to you, so that if there is any place in us that holds more of our heart than You do, then help us to get rid of it. That you may be the only God in our life.

In Jesus name, Amen.