IDOLS OF THE HEART
You cannot see them with your eyes, but they live inside your heart (lev) , the Hebrew word for the heart, the seat of thought, will, and moral direction, or kardia in Greek, the center of intention and devotion. These are not statues, not objects carved from gold, not external temptations. They are invisible, subtle, but powerful. Ezekiel 14:3 says, “Son of man, these men have set up their idols ( pesel ) in their hearts ( lev ) and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces; shall I let them inquire of Me?” Pesel is not merely a physical idol; it is anything we enthrone in place of God, anything we obey or trust more than Him. You might think your lev is safe. You pray, you study, you serve, but the heart is cunning. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart ( lev ) is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” That deceit is subtle. It disguises itself as good. Comfort, ambition ( epithymia ), approval ( epithymiai ton ophthalmōn ), knowledge, eve...