And it doesn't only happen with Egypt and with these idols.
It happens with the idols of your heart.
I mean, look, I've watched it.
I've seen people in our church who
decided that they wanted to make money their god.
And they became covetous.
And you talk to them, and all they talked about was money.
You talk to them, and all they cared.
You know, you used to talk about the word of God.
You used to talk about soul winning.
You used to talk about things that mattered.
And now it's just all about business, all about money,
all about cars, all about vehicles.
It's like they decided, I'm going
to worship the almighty God.
But you know what's interesting?
I saw those same people just be ruined financially.
I mean, the guy that couldn't stop talking about money
was living with his parents.
30-year-old wife, children, living with his parents.
You know, in debt up to his eyeballs.
You think that's a cool?
And then the rest of the people in the church
who don't care about money, who just go to work
and just want to make enough money to be able to survive
and to serve God.
They're getting raises.
They're getting bonuses.
Everything's going great with them.
And then the guy that's all super covetous,
living with his parents, has all this super debt,
can't get ahead financially.
You think that's a coincidence?
Look, whenever you decide that something
is going to become more important than God,
you just put a target on that.
That will become the object of the wrath of God.
I mean, you've got people coming to church,
and they're like, oh, I'm having family problems,
so I have to make my family more important than God.
So they'll skip church to spend time with their kids.
And then they have the worst relationship with their kids
than the people who just come to church.
You know, they'll skip church.
Well, I've got to spend time with my wife.
And then they've got more problems with their wife.
I've got to spend time with my husband.
And then they've got more problems with their husband.
Look, the people who have the best marriages here
are the ones who realize that God comes first,
wife comes second, husband comes second,
children comes third, work comes fourth.
But when you get those all messed up,
I'm going to make work more important.
And then now you're unemployed.
You can't figure out why you can't find a job.
Look, it's because whenever you make an idol,
you make that idol the object of God's wrath.
You say, Pastor Jimenez, why don't you ever
just skip church on a Sunday night
and just go have some family time?
Because I love my family way too much.
Because I don't want God to decide, oh, really?
You want to worship your family more than me
and then do something to my family,
or put them in the hospital, or cause some sort of problem.
Because as soon as I put them, people say, oh, I
love my family too much.
That's why I can't go so away.
I love my family.
No, no, actually, you don't love them enough to not put them
in the right position.
Say, Pastor Jimenez, why do you tithe and budget
and try to not be covetous and try to drive an old car
and you wear old clothes?
Why do you do that?
You don't buy new clothes.
The good thing about when you stop growing when you're 13
is that you can just keep wearing the same clothes.
And you say, why don't you care about money?
You know why I don't care about money?
Because I want God to take care of me financially.
I realize that as soon as I put money over God,
now I'm going to be the 30-year-old living
with my parents, except my parents have way too much
character to let me live with them.
I've told you the story my dad told me
the week before I got married.
You're never coming back here.
Sink or swim or whatever, but just don't come back here.
So here's the point that I want you to understand,
is that God will make your idol the object of his wrath.
God will make your idol the object of his wrath.
So when you really love something,
don't make an idol out of it.
Because God will destroy it.
God will remove it.
God is a jealous God.
And God doesn't want to compete with your wife.
God doesn't want to compete with your job.
God doesn't want to compete with your children.
God doesn't want to compete with your 401K.
So you know what?
I want all those things to be safe.
So I'm just going to put God where he deserves,
where he needs to be.
Because as soon as you put something else before God,
as soon as you put, just listen to me,
listen to me, as soon as you put anything before God,
you just put a target on that thing.
God will make your idol the object of his wrath.
Precious name, oh how sweet.
Woke of earth and joy of heaven.
Precious name, oh how sweet.
Woke of earth and joy of heaven.