Idol-Temple Empires.

I have got me all of these thoughts this morning.
But I just can't seem to put them into any coherent words yet.
Rather than attempting to give you something I haven't yet gotten myself, and failing miserably in my attempts, here is a verse I came across yesterday.
Luke 16: 15. And he {Jesus} said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God."

What is it we are chasing this Monday morning?

I think of all the things our culture tells me to run after, to achieve. Exalted things.
Money.
A rockin' body.
Relationships.
Success.
Notoriety.
A name for myself.
Connections I use for personal gain.
A set standard of living we are "too good" to live below.
Intellect.
Acts of "goodness" worth bragging about, or at the very least, worth telling others we did.

We all could add to the list.
Have you ever thought, though, that there is a good possibility the running after those is an abomination? That they, the exalted things, might in and of themselves be an abomination?
The word abomination means "Something horrible, something shameful, intense dislike."
Clearly God is going to intensely dislike something that is shameful and horrible for us. The word abomination is used in the Scriptures mostly in realtion to us having idols. Are we fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Eternal One, or are we running after idols, our temporal, functional gods?
Let's not take God's opinion lightly. Evaluate what it is you are chasing, wolfies. I don't want us to get before the throne of God and be told all of our lives were spent in not building the Kingdom of God, but rather in building an Idol-Temple Empire for ourselves.