“Do not make idols or set up an image or a sacred stone for yourselves,
and do not place a carved stone in your land to bow down before it. I am the Lord your God.”

Leviticus 26:1

The Idol Maker
By Sharon Byrd

As I sat in my loneliness staring at nothing at all,

My life had no meaning and my world seemed so small.

But there was something inside me yearning for more,

A longing, a pulling, from down deep in my core.

Why am I here? I thought, What is my purpose?

Is this all to this life, or is this only the surface?

I must follow something, of that I was certain,

But follow what or whom? I mean, for what was I searching?

I took it upon myself to give in to my worship,

But, the problem was mine: I had to give up my lordship.

I ordered an image one day home alone,

An idol of worship I could build on my own.

I needed something more, something bigger than me,

Something I could touch, that I could hold and could see.

The day it arrived, I could hardly believe it,

The driveway seemed long as I ran to retrieve it.

Hurriedly I walked and never once did I wonder,

The biggest day of my life would be my biggest blunder.

Who shapes a god and casts an idol,

which can profit him nothing?

Isaiah 44:10

The first thing I pulled from the box was instructions.

This would not be so easy to build my construction.

But I needed something physical to worship and to pray to,

You know this desire, because the desire also is in you.

I pulled from the box some shoes and a leg.

Then another leg appeared and some little wood pegs.

I then found… a torso? A torso, I suppose.

Then the head of man… No wait, that’s just the nose.

Again, I reached in to pull out my good fortunes.

I said in my heart I will pray to this poor thing.

When I put it together it will grant my desires,

But something inside me said,

You are playing with fire!

I laid down the arms and the head of my idol,

I said I will build it and began with a smile.

I connected the pieces with my pegs made of wood,

And all the while, I never ever understood.

That what I was building would make Jesus angry.

Those desires in my heart were strong. Could He blame me?

I needed something to see and to feel,

And I could not see Jesus… Was He even real?

I looked down at my hand, at my newfound invention,

I stood it in front of me and paid close attention.

About ten inches tall; his face seemed so mellow.

The next thing you know I had made this small fellow.                              

I stared at my product all finished and polished,

And then something inside me said, Again, Sharon, all this?

A Voice in my heart said, “Why have you done this?

Made idols of wood to pray and to worship?

When I, Jesus Christ, can be your heart’s symbol?

I will never get lost, never break, and never crumble.

What is it you have done to bring anger to My throne?

Do you see what becomes of you left on your own?

For I created the heavens and I created the earth.

I knew all of My people from before they were birthed.

But this thing you have made has aroused Me to anger.

Why waste your time bowing to a ten-inch complete stranger?

One that does not have breath and is really quite useless?

Tell me why, Sharon, why, did your heart find to do this?”

I said to the Voice, I said, “Whose voice is this?

For never have I heard a voice so loud and tremendous.

Are you my desire, the One I should seek?”

Then all of a sudden I felt feeble and weak.

I was thinking of me and my selfish survival,

I saw myself useless, as useless as my idol.

The path I had chosen led directly away

From the God I should worship, the God I should pray.

Oh, the I that I saw, it was no wonder I was in need,

For forgiveness and freedom, no idol could feed.

I heard the words clearly as the Voice spoke again,

“Those who make themselves an image are as useless as them.

They neither see nor know, nor do they see their own guilt,

Who could profit from an image of a god that he built?

“Do not turn away after small wooden statues,

To useless small charms that cannot save or rescue.

To fortunetellers and psychics that speak only false signs,

For I am the Lord! And you, Sharon, are mine.

When my children cry out, listen, who will deliver them?

The wind will come and carry all the images made by men.

But he who puts his trust in Me and in My holy mountain,

Will burst rivers of living water, from My holy fountain.

With eternity in their hearts! Yes, for Mine I will do this,

They will find their heart’s desire, their worth and their purpose.”

Now you may not have built an idol or a statue,

But there are things that you worship, honor, and cling to.

Idols of pleasure, self-seeking to consume you,

Carefully built for the desire within you.

No one but Jesus can fill your heart’s desire.

The void in your heart can be filled with His fire.

He is angered when replaced by worldly treasures.

Treasures last a moment, but Jesus lasts forever!

“They made him jealous with their foreign gods and angered him with their detestable idols.”

Deut. 32:16