Yesterday, we focused on one of the key verses in Psalm 135 about idols: “Those who make them will be like them” (v18). We saw how idols often start off as good or benign things designed to serve us, but end up enslaving us as they become our source of security and significance.

That was the diagnosis, and it wasn’t pretty. But today, in our final look at Psalm 135, we look at the treatment plan…

The antidote

What’s the antidote to this? How do we take back control? How do we live up to our calling as God’s chosen people—to show the world what it’s like not to be trusting in idols?

Do we move to a cheaper suburb. Buy a basic house. Work a bit less. Volunteer a bit more? That might be an outcome. It might be a helpful decision. But it’s not really an antidote if it hasn’t fixed the root cause—of where our security lies.

Do we go offline. Delete social media. Get a Brick phone or some kind of app that limits our screen time? Again, helpful steps. But if it hasn’t fixed the craving for approval, for love, for significance, for connection—for dopamine—then it’ll only manifest in other ways.

The antidote is pretty simple really. It’s doing the opposite of idol worship. As we saw yesterday, if we worship idols, over time, we become like them. But guess what? The opposite is also true. If we worship God, over time, we become like him. Which, you might recall, is who we were created to be. God’s image-bearers.

It’s what Jesus, the perfect image-bearer, came to restore in us. As Paul says in Romans 8:

Rom 8:29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.

So that if you are in Christ:

Col 3:9-10 … you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

And the way we’re renewed in God’s image is through worship. Because we become like what we worship. What we value most highly. As Jesus said:

Matt 6:21 “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

So if you want to do something about the creeping idolatry in our world, or in your life, start by making room for worship. Don’t start by trying hard to “give up idolatry” through your own effort. (It probably won’t work.) Begin with worship.

Make time for connection with God in whatever way works for you. Put your Bible app on your home screen and bury social media in a menu somewhere. Set up a playlist of worship songs that’s easy to access on your commute. When you’re bored, leave your phone in your pocket just a minute longer than usual; see if you can get a little dopamine hit by thinking about something you’re grateful to God for. Don’t try to tackle the whole problem all at once; start with building little habits that make room for worship.

And make time for in-person connection with God’s people—even if most weeks it seems like so much effort—because we were created to worship in community:

Col 3:16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.

If we prioritise the worship of God, we’ll slowly become more like what we worship. And less like the idols we’ve made for ourselves. Freed from slavery to the work of our hands.

So that, over time, the house will just be a house—to serve us, as we serve God. Social media will just be a communication tool—to serve us, as we care for others. Whatever thing we’ve carved, cast, or coded into an idol—it’ll find its proper place, serving us, not the other way round.

And we’ll be free to be who we were created to be. God’s image-bearers, reflecting his glory to the rest of creation. To have life and breath and meaning.  

To think about

What habits could you build to ensure worship is as regular a part of your life as breathing?

A suggestion: tap into the power of “habit stacking,” where you associate an action you do regularly with something else. It’s why prayers of gratitude have traditionally been linked meals, but you can do it with other things, too—like every time you brush your teeth, think of something to thank God for; every time you start the car engine, praise God that he keeps us eternally safe. And have a look at some of the habit stacking that God instructed Israel to do.

Deut 6:6-9 “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”

Num 15:37-40 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘Throughout the generations to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel. You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the LORD, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by chasing after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes. Then you will remember to obey all my commands and will be consecrated to your God.”