Building Statues

“King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, ninety feet high and nine feet wide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.” Daniel 3:1

I can’t help but believe we wear a crown in our self-made kingdoms, casting and forming images to help promote who we wish to be. We are appalled when we read that the king erected such a hideous and obvious image infuriating us as we think how much more God deserves than this idol.

How much do we have in common with this king as he rules his kingdom in relation to the manner in which we rule ours? Do we build up our image through our own arrogance and pride? Do we create a façade and wear a mask of who we desire to be, not really who we are? Do our actions and words in private match our behavior in public?

There are so many image consultants in the world today making money off of our desire to be something we are not. They look at our lives through the scope of their agendas and determine who we should most look like, act like and be like. We give full reign over to these consultants who barely know us. We allow the opinions of others, albeit paid consultants or friends to help us build his golden image which may in the end forsake the One who created the image we are to be.

The word image is defined as ‘a person or thing bearing a close likeness to somebody or something else.’ The Bible gives us everything we need to know about the image of God and the manner in which we may achieve this likeness. Christ cast the perfect image of God when He walked this earth which we will never be able to do. However, His walk did give us the standard for which is set that shows through imitating His walk we can continuously emerge more into His likeness daily.

We should scan our horizons on a regular basis and determine if any statues of gold images litter our landscapes and ask God to tear down those false images.