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Isaiah 46:7 "They lift [their idol] upon their shoulders, they carry it, they set it in its place, and it stands there; it cannot move from its place."

 

I wrote about the earlier verses of this passage before in We Don't Have to be Beasts of Burden to Our Idols, and I am going to expound more on those thoughts here. The idol Isaiah is talking about is a "god" crafted from silver and gold (Isaiah 46:6), the typical "golden idol" we think of when talking about Old Testament false gods. But, as we know, anything can be an idol, and these days our idols are more likely to be things like pleasure, power, health and health care, politics, entertainment, etc. These are the things we are lavishing with gold from our purses, and giving the better part of our attention to, even sometimes putting all our hope and trust in.

 

It doesn't matter what the idol is, though, the Biblical language on idolatry always applies. It is very easy to see the idols in our lives when we pay attention to how idolatry is described in the Bible. This verse shows how we have to carry our idols, we do all the heavy lifting for them, when we put them down they do nothing for us. This is one definite sign of idolatry. God wants to carry us, not vice versa. He has done all the heavy lifting for us, up to and including dying on the Cross. Yes, we struggle in this life, but turning to anything other than God for our ultimate help will only increase our burden. Turning to God, however, yokes us to Jesus, who helps us carry our load. He even takes most of the burden on Himself, making His yoke easy and His burden light. None of our idols do this for us, they can't, because they are created things, not the Creator.

 

Our idols all have their own intrinsic weight, or burdens, which we take on ourselves when we elevate them to primary place in our lives. I certainly don't want to have to defend any politician, entertainer, political system, "expert" in any field, doctor or other health care system, social justice cause, or even my country from their flaws, and they all have them. Don't get me wrong, these can each be good things, but none is the ultimate thing, they are not God.

 

When I elevate anything other than God to the position He should occupy in my life, I take on the burden of its flaws, as well, and I have enough flaws of my own! Better to take my flaws to my Creator, who knows what the flawless me looks like, wants to help me become that person, and has all the power to do so. I don't have to take on the burden of His flaws, because He has none.