“Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols.” Acts 17:16
July 21, 2025
The Athens Paul visited was notorious for its pursuit of meaning by worshiping Athena – the worship of the mental, Zeus – worship of might, and hundreds of other deities. There was Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty; Ares, the god of war; Artemis, the goddess of fertility and wealth. Every culture enshrines it own set of idols. The human heart is, in the words of John Calvin, an idol factory. Getting closer to home, “We may not physically kneel before a statue of Aphrodite, but many young women today are driven into depression and eating disorders by an obsessive concern over their body image” (Timothy Keller, “Counterfeit Gods”). The Epicureans of Athens were the materialists of their day (Acts 17:18). How many in our day are in a maddening rush to seek creature comforts and pleasure-seeking in endless video games? Yet we say, “Idols? What idols? I don’t see any idols.” “The human heart takes good things like a successful career, love, material possessions, even family, and turns them into ultimate things” (Keller). Mark this down as you pray and seek God, idolatry adorns itself in many self-serving and attractive ways. Am I taking the time to think over my priorities and that which I highly value to see what may be lurking in the shadows of my heart?
H
“Right thoughts about God protect us from the subtleties of idolatry.”