Idol much?

So a rather famous pop singer died last week and the world has been mourning his loss. As I was looking through some of the pictures, I wondered what it was about this particular person that caused people who didn't have any sort of personal relationship with him to react the way they did. And the first thing that popped into my head was "idol."

I'm pretty sure you won't have to look hard to find folks who considered this person an idol. And I began to wonder what sort of process it would take to get someone to the point where they would cry about someone who's not family or friend. It seems to me that someone would have to have a lot of time/emotion invested in someone to cause this sort of reaction. And I wonder how high the pedestal was that people put this person on.

Idolatry is a huge problem in the world. Not just the obvious practices either. What about our jobs? Look how far people are willing to go for their jobs. And relationships. People are always willing to put a boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife in a position above everything else. It's a big problem.

The best way to prevent idolatry is obviously to keep your eyes on Jesus. You do not need to idolize Him, but you do need to make Him the focus of your life. Everything that you do should be a reflection of Him. Everything. I have to be mindful of how I spend my time and what I think about. It's something that requires constant attention on my part. But I think it's worth the effort.