Turn to God From Idols – 1 Thessalonians 1:9
Jul 22, 2026 24510
Where are you seeking hope and happiness? Your answer may reveal the idols of your heart.
For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. — 1 Thessalonians 1:9 (ESV)
What Does It Mean to Turn?
Conversion is a turn, a change in direction. You’re heading one way, and then you stop and head another way entirely.
I remember driving in Dallas once, late at night, not much traffic. I went to turn right at an intersection and realised I’d turned onto the wrong side of the road. Big Texan trucks were barrelling towards me. It was terrifying.
Repentance involved more than just realising I’d gone the wrong way. It meant changed behaviour. As soon as possible, I made a U-turn and headed in the right direction.
That’s what turning to God from idols means. It’s not just a realisation. It’s a change in direction. A change in attitude and action.
What Are We Turning From?
The Thessalonians turned from idols. But what is idolatry?
Idolatry is looking for hope and happiness, significance and security, in the wrong places. It’s turning good things into ultimate things.
Tim Keller describes it this way: “Sin is not just doing bad things. It’s turning good things into ultimate things, because it ruins your soul, destroys community, and dishonours God.”
Our culture bows to three main idols: sex, money, and power. These aren’t bad in themselves. Sex is a gift from God. Money is a resource. Power can be used for good. But when they become ultimate things? When we look to them for the satisfaction only God can give? That’s idolatry.
John Calvin said the human heart is “a perpetual factory of idols.” We naturally want to worship something. The question is: what are we worshipping?
[Watch this week’s video devotion with Dave Miers]
Where Are Your Idols?
Where are you seeking to find hope and happiness? Where are you looking for significance and security?
Your answer may reveal the idols of your heart.
For some of you, it’s sex. You’re looking for worth and identity and pleasure in sexual conquest or romance. For others, it’s money. You believe if you just make enough, have enough, own enough, then you’ll finally feel satisfied. For still others, it’s power. You’re chasing control, status, influence.
Maybe it’s something else. Success. Achievement. Your kids. Your appearance. Your reputation.
The call of the gospel in the first century and today is the same: turn away from those false gods.
The Good News Is…
Jesus offers you something infinitely better than any idol ever could. He offers you himself. He offers you a relationship with the living and true God. He offers you genuine hope. Real security. True significance.
He lived the life we failed to live. He died the death we deserve. And he rose again, offering us a new life, one where we’re no longer slaves to chasing false gods.
When you turn to God from idols, you’re not losing something. You’re gaining everything.
Further reading: 1 Thessalonians 1
Reflection
Take some time today. Ask yourself honestly: What idols are lurking in my heart? Where am I seeking hope and happiness that only Jesus can give? What would it mean for me to turn away from that today?
Rev. Dave Miers
President, Good News Unlimited