Asa did what was good and right

 

Asa was Judah’s third king after the division of Israel, and he ruled the kingdom according to God’s laws and commandments. More than that, he encouraged active obedience and loving devotion to God over religious formalities or cultural currents.

 

in the eyes of the Lord his God

 

God’s opinion mattered more to him than popular opinion. This sounds great to hear about until it hits close to home in my personal life: Do I do what is good and right in the eyes of God? Sure, I can show up to church or perform some act of service or generosity, but is my motive self-serving? Is it performance based on what people see and I want them to think about? Proverbs 21:2 says, “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart.”

 

He took away the foreign altars and the high places

 

Asa began his reign by immediately removing all gods other than the Lord their God. Foreign religions and gods had infiltrated the people until they didn’t even recognize, or at least excused, their worship of other gods. The Lord was very clear in His commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3), yet somehow with the norms of their society, it was okay to disregard this commandment. 

 

and broke down the pillars and cut down the Asherim

 

Other versions of the Bible say “shattered” the pillars. These pillars were associated with Canaanite fertility worship. Rather than try to appease his people dependent on the comfort and rituals these involved, he destroyed the very thing they loved and relied on. The Asherim were poles frequently associated with Baal worship; other versions say he “chopped them down.” Again, this complete destruction was true repentance, saying enough is enough. We will worship the true God with our whole hearts and lives and minds.

 

and commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, 

 

Asa used his royal authority to direct the people back to God, to renew their faithfulness to Him. His strong leadership resulted in a great revival and years of peace and prosperity in his kingdom.

 

and to keep the law and the commandment.

 

Genuine seeking involves obedience. Seeking the Lord while willfully sinning is not compatible. Which brings me to the heart of this reflection: my obedience in removing the idols in my life must be a priority. Dear one, I know that you, as I do, have beloved idols in our life. Ones that we hold near. We protect them, excuse them, and also adore them. 

 

It’s hard to imagine the physical idols that were prayed to and worship “back then.” It seems silly. But what about today? We are not so much more complicated. The following is a list, by no means complete, of modern-day idols that must be removed, destroyed, smashed into pieces if we are to have no other god before God.

 

Can you locate any of your gods in the following list?

 

💰 Money and possessions

• Constantly pursuing a higher income, even at the expense of family, faith, or integrity.

• Feeling that you will finally be secure or happy once you have enough money.

• Defining your worth by your house, car, clothing, or possessions.

• Being unable to give generously because possessions have become more important than obedience to God.

• Making financial success the primary measure of a "good life."

Jesus directly warned, "You cannot serve God and money" (Matthew 6:24).

 

💼 Career and success

• Making professional achievement more important than following God.

• Sacrificing everything for a promotion, reputation, or business.

• Finding your identity primarily in your job: "I am what I accomplish."

• Needing recognition, titles, awards, or admiration to feel valuable.

• Choosing a career opportunity because it brings status while knowingly compromising biblical convictions.

 

❤️ Relationships

Relationships can become idols when we look to another person to provide what only God can ultimately provide. Examples:

• Putting a romantic relationship above obedience to God.

• Staying in an unhealthy relationship because being alone feels unbearable.

• Making your children the center of your entire identity.

• Living primarily to please your spouse, parents, or friends rather than God.

• Believing, "I cannot be happy unless this person loves me."

 

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Children

Even something as good as parenting can become idolatrous.

• Making your child's success more important than their character.

• Living vicariously through your children.

• Becoming consumed with their achievements, appearance, sports, education, or popularity.

• Being unwilling to let your children follow God's calling if it differs from what you envisioned for them.

The problem isn't loving your children deeply. It's allowing something good to occupy God's rightful place.

 

📱 Social media and the need for approval

This is one of the clearest modern examples.

• Checking likes and comments repeatedly because they determine how you feel about yourself.

• Carefully constructing an online identity to gain admiration.

• Comparing your life constantly with other people's lives.

• Feeling worthless when you aren't noticed.

• Changing your convictions because you fear people's disapproval.

• Spending hours consuming other people's lives while neglecting your relationship with God.

 

🪞 Appearance and beauty

• Obsessing over weight, fitness, clothing, hair, skin, or physical appearance.

• Believing you will finally be worthy when you look a certain way.

• Spending excessive time or money pursuing an ideal appearance.

• Allowing appearance to determine your confidence or identity.

Taking care of your body isn't idolatry. Making your appearance a source of identity and worth can be.

 

🏆 Achievement

• Needing to be the best.

• Being unable to rest because productivity has become your identity.

• Feeling guilty or worthless when you're not accomplishing something.

• Constantly comparing yourself with others.

• Pursuing accomplishments primarily so others will admire you.

The idol isn't necessarily the accomplishment. It is what the accomplishment means to your heart.

 

🏠 Comfort and security

• Needing everything in life to be comfortable before you can have peace.

• Avoiding anything difficult because comfort has become your highest priority.

• Hoarding money or possessions because you cannot trust God with the future.

• Refusing to follow God's direction because it involves uncertainty or sacrifice.

• Using food, alcohol, or anything consumed to soothe ourselves.

Sometimes the idol is simply our desire to feel safe and in control.

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🎮 Entertainment

Spending hours every day on television, streaming, gaming, or other entertainment while having little time for God.

• Turning to entertainment every time you experience discomfort, loneliness, or sadness rather than bringing those things to God.

• Being unwilling to give up entertainment that conflicts with biblical convictions.

• Thinking primarily about the next show, game, vacation, or pleasurable experience.

Entertainment isn't inherently wrong. But anything we cannot willingly put down can begin to own us.

 

🗳️ Politics and ideology

• Treating a political party or movement as though it represents God's kingdom.

• Placing political loyalty above biblical truth.

• Hating, mocking, slandering people who disagree with you.

• Believing that a political leader will ultimately save the country or fix society.

• Allowing political identity to become more important than Christian identity.

 

🧠 Self

Perhaps the deepest idol is self.

• "My happiness is the most important thing."

• "I will follow my heart."

• "My desires determine what is right."

• "I will live however I want."

• "I will live 'my truth.'"

• Refusing God's commands when they conflict with personal desires.

• Making personal autonomy more important than surrender to God.

Paul describes people who "worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator" (Romans 1:25).

 

🙏 Even religion can become an idol

A person can become more devoted to the following than to God Himself:

• Their denomination

• Their church

• Their preferred Bible teacher

• A particular pastor

• Religious traditions

• Their theological opinions

• Their ministry

• Their reputation as a "good Christian"

• Anything that is more important to us than to God Himself.

Jesus confronted religious people who were extremely devoted to religious practices but had neglected the heart of God (Matthew 23:23–28).

 

Here is a simple way to recognize an idol. You can ask yourself:

• "What would devastate me if God asked me to give it up?"

• "What do I run to when I am afraid, lonely, disappointed, or insecure?"

• "What gives me my sense of worth?"

If the answer is something other than God, that thing may have begun to occupy a place in your heart that belongs to Him.

 

The biblical answer isn't simply "get rid of everything you enjoy." It is to put everything back in its proper place, to enjoy it without worshiping it. This makes me think of King Asa, that he didn't simply tell the people how to reform their hearts but still allowed for a little bit of idolatry. Something more extreme was necessary.

 

Every idol that sits on the throne of our heart, if it isn't God, must be removed, destroyed, smashed into pieces if we are to have no other god before God. And I mean, literally. Cancel the Netflix account if your entertainment consumption is your god before God. Use a delivery service to order groceries if you can’t help but put your god into the grocery cart. Deactivate your social media if your god is clicks and likes.

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Removing our idols is not a one-time one-and-done process. As we go through life, I have found that no sooner that I have rid myself of an idol, another one pops up! Or an old one weasels its way back and I find myself making excuses for it, guarding it, secretly petting it. New Testament Scripture also discusses the issue of idolatry, so let's take a look at some of those passages:

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We must smash our idols.

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21)

 

We must war against our beloved gods.

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Colossians 3:5

 

We must seek first the Kingdom of God, not our personal gods.

For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. (Ephesians 5:5)

 

We must run away and escape our idols that entrap us.

Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. (1 Corinthians 10:14)

 

We must put away the gods that belong in our past.

For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. (1 Peter 4:3)

 

We must be affectionate for only one God, the Lord our God.

Little children, keep yourselves from idols. (1 John 5:21)

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Mental checkboxes:

✔️Am I allowing God to point out the idols in my life? Have I asked Him to show me my blind spots?

✔️What am I currently doing to actively rid myself of an idol? If nothing, what is my first step?

✔️Have I considered how am I going to have the courage to make changes? Turning over a new leaf is not enough; the Holy Spirit must do a work in me. (Romans 12:2)

✔️Imagine you have a friend you care deeply about is feeling discouraged in the spiritual struggle of getting rid of a bad habit, an addiction, or anything they know is an idol in their life. What would you tell them? Could you give this encouragement to yourself?

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Further reading: 1 Corinthians 10; Isaiah 44:9-20

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