Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.    1 John 5:21 NKJV

A dear friend sends out a Bible verse to some of her friends, me included, each morning. She sent this verse, but it was worded “Dear Children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.”

Many people believe you should only read the King James Version. I couldn’t find any version that worded this verse in this way. Even the International Children’s version uses the word idols. In this wording, however, it made it more real. Why? Well, we all like to think we don’t worship idols. We want to believe we are above idolatry. That was a problem the Israelites had in the Old Testament. We are good church-going people, and we don’t allow ourselves to fall into idol worship, right?

As I read, “Stay away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts,” it convicted me. I’m not one of those horrible idol worshippers, but there are times when I might let things take God’s place in my heart. Sadly, when I think about it that way, I fall into idol worship when I do this.

God created us in His image to be in close fellowship with Him. He wants us to seek Him with all our heart (Jeremiah 29:13). Jesus said in Matthew 22:37 that the greatest commandment was that we were to love the Lord with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind. God is to have first place in our hearts. Matthew 6:33 tells us to first seek the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you.

When we put God first, God will take good care of us. He will provide all we need. We were created to put God first in our lives. We were created with a God-sized hole in our hearts. Even though we were created to be in close fellowship or a close relationship with God, God gives us the freedom to choose. We can accept Him and put Him first in our lives, or we can reject Him. And let me make this clear to you, putting God behind all the “other stuff” in your life is the same as rejecting Him. When we put Him first, the “other stuff” will fall into place.

When we read, “Dear Children” in the Bible, we must understand that this is how God sees us. He sees us as His precious children. Not all of us are His children; we must make the choice to be adopted into His family when we choose salvation. John 1:11-12 says, “He came to His own and His own people did not receive Him. But to all who did receive Him, He gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in His name.”

If you are not yet a child of God, it’s not too late. You can surrender yourself to Him and experience the spiritual adoption into His family. He still loves you and would love to welcome you into His family.

If you have surrendered your life to Christ, you are one of His dear children. He loves you more than you can imagine. He wants good things for you, but He must be first.

If you are trying to fill that God-sized hole in your heart with anything other than God, know that it won’t work. If you have gotten so busy living life that life has filled your heart and pushed God out, you need to rethink that. Don’t let anything take God’s place in your heart.

God’s place is in your heart. Ask Him to fill your heart today and put Him first in all you do. Proverbs 3:6 says to acknowledge Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths.

Have a great day!