Here in America we have a certain dislike for door-to-door salesmen. They tend to disrupt dinner, invade the personal space of our homes, and convince us to buy things that we really never needed to begin with. In Nepal, this salesman pictured here is selling the people maybe one of the most important things they will every buy. He is selling them their gods.

These gods are false, of course, but the people cling to them in darkness as if they were real. This deception and misunderstanding highlights the Nepalese’ false hope even more, as they not only have cities built around temples and altars to multiple, lifeless deities, but they also have these demons being brought to their front door. They have a desperate need for Truth and the Most High God to come and break through their false reality of idol-worship.

Are we so different? Our idols are not necessarily in the shape of deities, carved out of wood or stone, but they are present in our culture nonetheless, and don’t require door-to-door salesmen to usher them into our lives. We worship our money, our homes, our children, our jobs, our time, our comfort, and our achievements. The list could go on. Joel Vestal, the founder and president of ServLife, recently spent time in Nepal, capturing this image of an idol salesman. He said, “We have things we put up in our lives that keep us from being the people that God wants us to be – to love God with our whole being.” Our darkness is just as great as the darkness in Nepal, and maybe even greater, because our idols are sold under different names. The Nepalese know that they are purchasing their gods while we are deceived by gods that have no faces.

Nepal houses eight of the ten highest mountains in the world, including Sagarmatha, or what we know as Mount Everest. These mountains stand in stark contrast to the spiritual atmosphere of this country. How glorious they are in comparison to the paltry idols being sold at every door! How majestic they are looming above even the grandest temples! Psalm 95:3-4 says, “For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him.”

Idols are found door-to-door around the world, invading every person’s heart in an attempt to shut out Jesus, the only one who can save. It’s easier to see in Nepal because they’re tangible, but the unseen idols of our hearts are just as sinful, and easier to be ensnared by.

“I hope that you will examine your own life and see where those idols exist in your journey, and the you would lay them at the feet of Jesus, that you would love Jesus with your whole heart, and that he would be the center of your worship and your devotion in your life.” (Joel Vestal)

Watch a video of Joel Vestal sharing about false idols from the Pashupati Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal and how idolatry is a reality for westerners as well:

(Source: ServLife News by Sarah Buckner)

(Posted: 2010-03-15)