However, idolatry is not limited to graven images or pagan people. As the graven image comes from the mind of man, so too can mental images that pervert concepts of the true God of ehaven. Many folks in religion pay homage to the "One God" but imagine him to be the kind of god that does not exist. God is eternal and has always been consistent with His nature as revealed in His word. Thus, any mental "image" of a god that differs from this God is a false and non-existent god. In other words, it is an idol.

Some conceive an image of God as an all-loving and absolutely good being that will never punish anyone. In their mind, God approves of everything and every religion regardless of what scriptures teach. This makes for an easy religion and is enough to satisfy those with weak faiths but it ignores verses like Matthew 7:21-23. Doing the will of the Father, not just claiming to, is what gets us heaven and many religious folks will be told to "depart."

Others have a notion of God that He is cruel, merciless, and sort of fiendish because He sanctions suffering, poverty, and other calamities by allowing them to go on. But God does not interfere with man's freedom to choose and because of that He is foolishly blamed for bad things. He does not keep a man from getting drunk, so why is He blamed when that drunk kills someone in a wreck? Beware, false gods may give comfort to people but will not prepare anyone for eternity. Look to God's word to follow the true God.