Idols and Free Radicals

I hate to break it to you, but oxygen is a poison.  Yes, the O2 gas you are breathing and I am breathing is extremely toxic.  This is where we get free radicals which need to be combated with antioxidants.  Yes, oxygen left to its own devices is a killer.  Every cell in your body is constantly fighting against the threat of oxygen (called oxidative stress).  So why do we breathe it and die without it?  Our bodies have learned to harness the same chemical properties which make it so reactive to drive our cellular metabolism.  But this comes at a great cost.  Common free radicals like O2- (superoxide) can bind to proteins and DNA, causing cell death or triggering cancer.  

Exciting right?  This simple element you cannot live without may one day kill you.  Why bring this up?  Because free radicals are a good illustration of our idolatrous hearts.

We were created good and whole, meant to worship God alone, but the ionizing radiation of the Fall has left us broken and reactive.  We are now predisposed to idol making and everyone is worshiping something.  Like the free radicals which destroy whatever they bind to, we continue reaching for the next unsatisfying idol trying to fill this broken bond.  Under the pressure of idolization we corrupt whatever our idol is.  Many of our worst idols were previously good things before we warped them with our fallenness.  Ministry for example can become a terrible terrible idol if I allow my heart to twist it into such.  Similarly relationships, accomplishments, or acceptance can become horrible idols.  Now I must wrestle with my old-self to keep Jesus on the throne and not my idols.  I need my ionization discharged.

Our only hope is in Jesus, who is able to heal us and satisfy the unpaired electrons in our souls.  Only a covalent bond with Him can put my radical nature to rest and make me whole and holy again.