Is Your Identity Wrapped Up In an Idol?
Today's Verse
1When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.2As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbaths he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,3explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ,” he declared.4Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few leading women.5The Jews, however, became jealous. So they brought in some troublemakers from the marketplace, formed a mob, and sent the city into an uproar. They raided Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas, hoping to bring them out to the people.6But when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have now come here,7and Jason has welcomed them into his home. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, named Jesus!”8On hearing this, the crowd and city officials were greatly disturbed.9And they collected bond from Jason and the others and then released them.10As soon as night had fallen, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went into the Jewish synagogue.11Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true.12As a result, many of them believed, along with quite a few prominent Greek women and men.13But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that Paul was also proclaiming the word of God in Berea, they went there themselves to incite and agitate the crowds.14The brothers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy remained in Berea.15Those who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then returned with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.16While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply disturbed in his spirit to see that the city was full of idols.17So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and God-fearing Gentiles, and in the marketplace with those he met each day.Acts 17 · BSB
The Devotion
In Acts 17, Paul stood up before the smartest men in the world in Athens and told them about Jesus. The city of Athens was the center of the world’s culture, art, architecture, and philosophy. Around Athens, there were hundreds and hundreds of idols that people worshipped. There were temples to Greek gods and shrines all over the place – so much so that they said that in Athens, it was easier to find a god than a person!
Paul got up on top of Mars Hill (the Areopagus), where the philosophers and wise men would get together and debate ideas. As he was speaking to them, they could all look down from the top of the hill into the city and see all their idols. He told them:
So Paul, standing before the council, addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about” (Acts 17: 22-23 NLT).
The people in Athens found their identity in the idols they worshipped. Worship is giving worth to someone or something. Their idols were what they valued the very most.
We may not have physical idols today, but we still have idols. We think these idols will give us identity. That somehow they will satisfy us with purpose and we can say like Pistol Pete “I’ve made it.”
Maybe your idol is your stuff – the things you possess: a nice car, a big house, or the latest iPhone. Possessions aren’t bad on their own, but possessions become idols when they possess us.
John Rockefeller was America’s first billionaire and the world’s richest man. A reporter once asked him, “Mr. Rockefeller, how much is enough?”
Rockefeller replied, “A little bit more.”
Stuff never satisfies – we always want more.
Maybe it’s not stuff. Maybe you find your identity in what you do. Your job title. Your popularity. Your talents and abilities.
Maybe it’s not in any of those things. Maybe you’re stuck because your identity is tied to someone abusing you, labeling you a failure or mistake, or telling you that you’ll never be good for anything.
Maybe your past failures are what is keeping you from knowing who you really are.
Here’s the good news:
Who you are is not defined by what you have.
Who you are is not defined by what you do.
Who you are is not defined by what you’ve done.
Or what’s been done to you.
Or what others have said about you.
Who you are is defined by what God says about you!
Lord, I worship and serve You alone today. Reveal to me any idols in my heart, and let me be sold out for You. In Jesus' name. Amen!
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