Other gods call us to bow down and worship them, to treasure them before God. How can we overcome this idolatry? How can we leave behind empty things and serve God alone?
First, we need to receive a new heart. Since the Fall, our hearts are given over to evil (Genesis 6:5), and we need to receive new hearts (Ezekiel 36:26-27). Put another way, we are dead in our sins and need to be made alive with Christ (Ephesians 2:1-5). Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead that we might have new hearts. And all we need to do to receive a new heart is trust in Jesus as our Savior. It come by faith apart from works (Ephesians 2:8-9). This is the foundation to overcoming idolatry.
Second, we need to continue to look to God. God gives us a new heart for him, and God will help us overcome idolatry. Psalm 86:11 is a cry for God to give us undivided hearts. This needs to be our cry. We need his help.
Third, we need to identify, guard, and run. Through Scripture and prayer (Hebrews 4:12 and Psalm 139:23-24), we identify our gods. Once we know the idols that call our name, we can guard against them – and we must, for our hearts can easily be led astray (Deuteronomy 11:16). And when the tempation comes – run. I Corinthians 10:14 tells us to flee. If an otherwise good thing has become an idol in your life, you may need to just walk away for awhile. That’s defensive – identify the enemy, guard against it, and retreat. But we need to go further:
Fourth, renew your mind. Romans 12:2 tells us not to be conformed to world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. If we think in our minds that an idol is better than God we will serve the idol. We need to have our thinking changed – what we believe. This too is a work of God, but we can cooperate with him as we immerse ourselves in his Word, spend time communing with him in prayer, praise him, and participate in godly fellowship that encourages us to treasure God above all else.
When we really believe that God is the best, we will desire him more than anything else, and we will then live for him. But the world parades false clues leading to false treasures before us, so we must be discerning lest we be conformed to the thinking of the world rather than transformed by the renewing of our minds.
Finally, we must cherish Christ. This is the goal of mind renewal. The more we cherish Christ, the more idols will lose their appeal. As the great hymn reminds us, when we survey what Christ has done for us on the cross, “all the vain things that charm us most” simply lose their appeal.
(For more thoughts on fighting idolatry, see the Three Passions Idolatry page.)
Brian J. Mikul 
“Fourth, renew your mind. Romans 12:2 tells us not to be conformed to world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. If we think in our minds that an idol is better than God we will serve the idol. We need to have our thinking changed – what we believe. This too is a work of God, but we can cooperate with him as we immerse ourselves in his Word, spend time communing with him in prayer”
I’ve wanted to comment on this since the first day you wrote it. Hard to fit everything in.
This is the key, but until we are there, our old nature competes for our attention and at times, what you suggest does not appeal. We get sidetracked.
‘Transformed’ is an interesting word. It goes along with a line in my most recent post, ‘New Set of Cravings’. The change that has taken place in me is not a new ability to manage the old cravings, but more, it is a new set of cravings.
Best I can tell, it is a plowing through of keeping ourselves immersed as you say; refusing to get sidetracked until we have rooted out the old and the new is able to take root.
All for now. Hope all is well.
Mike