Ezekiel 14:7
When any Israelite or any alien living in Israel separates himself from me, and sets up idols in his heart and put a wicked stumbling block before his face and then goes to a prophet to inquire of me, I the Lord will answer him myself.

In this part of the Book of Ezekiel, the prophet records what God speaks to him upon meeting with the elders of Israel–in short, that they are idolaters rather than God-fearing worshippers. This verse, in particular, is the warning that God directs Ezekiel to tell them, warning all Israel that God did not appreciate idols and hypocritical worship (the whole “having idols but going to ask a prophet about God” thing).

In Ezekiel’s day, the idols were likely carven, and were more often of Baal, the main competitor for Israel’s spirituality in the Old Testament. In modern times, however, our idols and stumbling blocks are subtler and harder to detect. Some of us more obviously worship the gods of money and power, as did some in Ezekiel’s day; some of us, however, worship the god of Internet, or the god of politics, or the god of knowledge. Idolatry definitely still exists today–and anything that gets in the way of worshipping God isn’t healthy in the long term for your faith.

Overcoming Modern Idolatry: Being Vigilant about Priorities

This is an especially convicting passage to read, and it demands us to engage in self-examination. What are the “gods” that we worship before God? In my life, I can see how often other things take the place of studying God’s Word–namely my activities on social media. Sometimes even this blog can get in the way of devotional time, as odd as that sounds. This verse reminds us all that anything we prioritize ahead of God can become a “god” to us, and it can happen without us realizing. Once we’ve pushed God down to second place in our lives, then it becomes even easier to push Him to third, and then fourth, and on down till He’s in last place, where we only contact Him when we want something. Constantly examining ourselves and our priorities is the only way to combat this.

(A final note: God can seem overly harsh and punitive in this verse and other places in the Old Testament, but considering that Israel went through approximately 20-year periods of worshipping Him, then falling away to Baal, and back again, it seemed a little more dramatic move was needed to remind Israel of what they ought to be doing.)