What are idols?

Everyone worships something. In the Ancient days people used to make idols out of wood and stone and metal. They would select a tree and then cut it into pieces. From the pieces they would burn some to heat their house and make their food, and then use the rest to carve into an idol. Isaiah was a prophet of God who lived around this time. God sent him to tell people to stop making idols. He said,

Isaiah 44:16 Half of the wood he burns in the fire;
over it he prepares his meal,
he roasts his meat and eats his fill.
He also warms himself and says,
"Ah! I am warm; I see the fire."
17 From the rest he makes a god, his idol;
he bows down to it and worships.
He prays to it and says,
"Save me! You are my god!"

Isaiah though this was so stupid, and so did God.

19 No one stops to think,
no one has the knowledge or understanding to say,
"Half of it I used for fuel;
I even baked bread over its coals,
I roasted meat and I ate.
Shall I make a [idol] from what is left?
Shall I bow down to a block of wood?"

Because the ancients wanted to be able to control their gods and make the gods do things for them, they made their gods small enough to carry around with them. They wanted to be able to manipulate their gods and make them do the things the people wanted.

Today, we do this as well in a few ways.

One way that we make idols is by creating celebrities that we can worship. You might not call it worship, but what else can it be. People lined up for hours just to see them. Girls and Boys obsessing over them and trying to be just like them. Screaming for them in ways that we would never think to scream for the real God (through maybe we should!). We worship them because they are so glamorous and cool, and we hope that by worshipping them we can maybe touch it in some way. God in Heaven feel to far away, so we created celebrities that are a little lower than the angels, and almost within reach. The problem though is that they are often famous for all the wrong reasons and have nothing truly important to say.

Another way we create idols is by the way we treat God. We grab ahold of a few verse about him, or a few ideas about him and then think we can control him to get what we want. We make him smaller than he really is so we can get a handle on him and control him. We want to make him perform for us in such a way that our lives are blessed in all the ways we want them to be.
So we call our god Jesus, or Father... but sometimes we really are worshipping a glorified reflection of Santa Clause who grants our wishes if we are "not naughty, but nice."

Jesus so much more famous than our little celebrities, and so much bigger than our little Fat bearded Santa-God. Jesus sits above the circle of the earth and knows everything, sees everything, and loves everyone. In the midst of all of this idol worship, Jesus is often seen as a forgotten relic of a dead religion. Though he is and always will be God, we see him as small, powerless, and plastic. We treat him as a good luck charm at best, and imaginary more often. But even in the midst of the lessor gods, Jesus remains both real and awesome. This universe exists for him and was created by him.

So you choose: Who will you worship? A god you made... or the GOD who made everything?