‌We often look to our heroes for examples of how to live and what to do. But even our heroes let us down eventually. You might think there are plenty of good examples to follow in the Bible, but there are very few without major character flaws and major failures. We need to recognize that in giving us the Bible, God has given us the gift of seeing broken, sinful people just like us. People who are given all kinds of blessings and benefits from God, but still manage to choose to sin and go down paths of danger and sometimes destruction.

‌Our passage this morning gives us several bad examples from the Old Testament. People in situations where they could have trusted God and looked to Him for help but instead chose anyone and anything other than God. Those are idols. Things taking the place of God. He created us to know Him, to be known by Him, and to worship Him – to find joy and satisfaction in Him. So God warns us over and over to avoid idols.