Idols

"Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted...Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand." - 1 Corinthians 10:6, 8

The Bible often refers to Israel as God's chosen people. God delivered them from all enemies and gave them Canaan as their Promised land and all He asked was that Israel set Him apart as the only God in their hearts. Unfortunately, Israel failed time after time by committing sexually immoral worship before the Canaanite Ashtoreth and sacrificing their children to Chemosh and Moloch. They compromised in their obedience to God's commands, and they followed the idols of pleasure. Obviously, these practices were unpleasing to God, and Israel suffered the consequences (1 Corinthians 10:7-19).

Similarly, Paul warns us as believers in Jesus to beware of falling into the same patterns of idolatry. 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 instructs us to flee from fornication. Every sin that a man does is committed outside the body but he that commits fornication sins against his own body. “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.” Each of us has been purchased and called for a purpose. We are not our own property and cannot do whatever we please. Sadly, in America, which was founded as a Christian nation, over half of the population celebrates unrestrained sexual activity and the sacrifice of the resulting child. We, like Israel, have turned away from God to serving idols.

While working towards a master’s degree at the University of Houston Clear Lake, I was taking a class on gender studies. During one lesson, we discussed the American Women's liberation movement of the 1960's. One of their arguments was that men could have unrestrained sexual activity and experience the resulting pleasure without having to face the consequence of pregnancy. The progressive woman found this unfair and argued that women should also have this “right”. They stated that their bodies were their own and no one should tell them what to do with them. Women should have the same right to successful careers and to unrestrained sexual expression as men. Thus, abortion should be readily available.

What this movement failed to acknowledge is that there are always consequences to disobedience to God. When we offer ourselves to carnality and sexual immorality, we make our fleshly pleasure into an idol. Then like Israel, we progress from sexual immorality to child sacrifice, because having a baby would create an inconvenience to our personal aspirations. To excuse this as a choice, they argue that a child isn't alive until birth. They dismiss the science that reveals the unborn baby has a heartbeat, dreams, and can feel pain. Further they ignore God's word which says that God lovingly formed us in the womb and knew each of us before we were born (Ps. 139:15-16).

Today, those who have had abortions, including Roe from Roe vs. Wade which made abortion a right in America, often regret their decision. They suffer depression and contemplate suicide. No matter how much society trumpets abortion being nothing more than a surgical procedure, it is the ultimate form of pride. The person is in effect telling God that He made a mistake in making them pregnant, and they know better than He what is best for them. For our pleasure, we deny our child the right to life. Each individual is precious to God, and no one has the right to take a life but God Himself.

God created and loved His people. Like Israel, sexual idolatry and child sacrifice reveals that America's heart has turned from serving God. We must repent before it is too late. One day, every knee will bow in submission to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says that not everyone will enter the Kingdom. Choose this day who you are going to serve (Joshua 24:14-15).