We likely know what the word 'icon" refers to in computer terms or we probably wouldn't have found each other here. Whether by traditional computer or our overly intelligent phones or tablets, we click on "icons" to navigate a number of functions.
"An icon is a picture on a computer screen representing a particular computer function. If you want to use it, you move the cursor onto the icon using a mouse." - Collins English Dictionary
The word has has more than one definition with a variety of potential designees available to wear the title. Pushing back and casting aside human lusts, societal fad and fickle whim, there's only one designee in all of this crazy world truly worthy to bear it though... and getting it wrong could cost more than the human mind might be able to imagine.
"Icon ... 2. - an object of uncritical devotion : idol." - Merriam-Webster
We have more than a tendency to assign importance to people places and things in this world and we often do it without even giving the matter a conscious, purposeful thought. In many cases it's an instinctive exercise attached to something we want or need and puts a mental "Important!" label on a person, a place or some thing. But what if those people, places or things all came from one source? How "Important!" would that make the source and how far lower on the scale of importance would all of those other nouns be found since they were all accessed through "The Source"?
"icon noun [C] (REPRESENTATION). a famous person or thing that represents something of importance" - Cambridge English Dictionary
By now, if you're a Christ follower, you probably know where I'm going with this and exactly what my target is. And if you do, you're probably doing a little quick self assessment. If not, you might want to be careful and think about turning up your sensitivity to the Holy Spirit because we all need to be conscious of the order of our priorities and the level of importance we give to anyone or anything - examining their scale of priority, the importance that we assign to them and where we place them in relation to their one true source. If we're not doing that on a regular basis, we could end up having a serious icon delusion problem.
“You shall have no other gods before Me. 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. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain." Exodus 20:3-7 (NKJ)
As believers, we know that our God is the source of every person, ... every place, ... and every thing. So the questions we need to be conscious of continually are:
Do we ever place higher importance on any of those items at any time than on the God who gives them?
Do we give them higher importance than He does?
Is The Lord God, Sovereign Ruler of heaven and earth, Creator and Source of everything that exists, ... first in everything we consider, hold dear and seek after?
Icons in our lives ... they're worth examining. Because based on the importance and priority that we give them, they could be more dangerous than the human mind might be able to imagine...
Things to think about.
"No, O people, the LORD has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God." Micah 6:8 (NLT)
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