Deuteronomy 4:23b [D]o not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the Lord your God has forbidden. (The Lord directed Moses to give the Israelites a clear and specific warning about making idols for themselves because He knew how easily they fell into that trap and how destructive it was for them. The Lord still directs us not to place any other gods before Him and to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. He knows our tendency toward self-destruction where we lose focus on our relationship with Him and on the unique and eternal covenant He has made with us. Although we may not today actually fashion a literal image to worship, we are still so prone to worship at altars of materialism, of lust, of addictions, of performance and perfectionism, of attempting to exert control and domination over people and situations, of influential relationships and networking,and sundry other focuses of our own particular, personal preference and design. How often we try to keep one foot in the camp of the Lord while keeping the other foot in the camp of some other passion. The Lord says we cannot serve both Him and any other god. The true obedience to which the Lord calls us requires us to give Him and Him alone first place in our lives simply because He knows that is for our absolute and eternal best.)
