“Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen”

Idols

Verse13 shows our belief, or our faith and complete trust, is the only way to receive God’s gift of eternal life; it reads, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.”
An idol is anything which becomes the central part of our life that is meant to be filled by God; it comes between us and God, and thereby replaces our central faith in Jesus.

Examples of Idols

Exodus 20:4-5 reads, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.” In Egypt the first part of this command is applied so strictly that pedestrian crossings have an image of a man with no head, to avoid showing a likeness of a man. But that ignores the key second part about bowing down and serving. Even in the wacky West we are not yet in danger of worshipping pedestrian crossings.
Before the printing press and widespread literacy, paintings, icons, and statues were popular in the Catholic church as a reminder of bible stories, and of Mary and the saints who it was believed would intercede in prayer for people. This easily descended into worship of these icons and statues as idols, and in the eighth-century the Byzantium Emperor Leo III condemned the use of images in worship (but he was in turn condemned as a heretic by Pope Gregory III). Reaction against this practice reached a crescendo during the Reformation with the destruction of icons, statues, glass windows, and whitewashing of church walls to cover paintings, referred to as Iconoclasm.
But idol worship is subtle and extends well beyond physical objects. The book of Ecclesiastes provides a list of what can become our idols, including the pursuit of:

• Wisdom and knowledge (1:18).
• Pleasure and enjoyment (2:1-11).
• Toil and hard work (2:11, 3:9).
• Wealth and material riches (5:10-17).
• Achievement and fame (4:16).
• Power and injustice (3:16, 4:1).
• Modern Idols

In our modern world we still see those old idols; the results of unrestrained physical and emotional pleasure show up in drug & alcohol dependence, adulterous relationships, and overload in the entertainment industry.
But we can also see it when an ideology (such as Marxism) is taken as the solution to life’s problems, leading to modern Wokism which cannot distinguish men from women. Or a trust in political powers or parties, or any philosophy that replaces our faith, such as Existentialism and Post Modernist Relativism. Other modern idols are self-worship, worship of human intellect, self-empowerment, and self-esteem, and these can easily lead to narcissism.

Christian Idols

This points to how many positive and healthy things can become idols, including the things God gave to bless us.
I long ago read that the idolatry that Abraham was called to leave was known as the Sabian religion, thought to have developed as people in the East ceased to worship God, and instead they focused on his visible gifts of the stars, the sun and moon, given to us for light by day and night and to mark the seasons.
Even worship activities – I think many US musical entertainers had their early start in church music, but many lost their focus and turned to the self-indulgence of poular entertainment.
Any pastime or hobby that becomes a life passion greater than our love of God can turn into an idol. We are given skills to be used for His good purpose, which can include rest and recreation, but our focus needs to remain on God.
Likewise, any person for whom our love is greater than our love of God can lead to idolatry. We are meant to serve God as we bring His love to others, and we love them best when God remains at the centre of our life.
Within church worship, a human doctrine, tradition, denomination, or church leader, can encourage us in faith. But these can also distract our focus away from God and his word, so any of them can become an idol. Paul warns about this in 1 Corinthians 3:21-23: “So let no one boast in human leaders. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future.”

Personal response

I think Ecclesiastes provides a good way keep ourselves from idols. 12:13 reads, “Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all.” Similarly Mark 12:30-31, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength … And … love your neighbor as yourself.” When we focus on doing that, there’s no room for idols.