OUR IDOLS by J. P. Henderson

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Apr 10, 1893

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 19, No. 23.

OUR IDOLS.

By J. P. Henderson

BY ELDER J. P. HENDERSON.

COVETOUSNESS is said to be idolatry. Col. 3: 5. Webster defines an idol as "that upon which the affections are strongly, excessively, and improperly set." When affections are placed upon that which is supreme, there can be no rivals to create jealousy. When God, who is the embodiment of all that is good, becomes our chief object of adoration, nothing disturbs the peace and equanimity of mind, as nothing can rival that which is of itself perfect. When imperfect things, however, are enthroned in the heart's affections, rivals create jealousy, and lead to hatred, persecution, murder, and every excess of cruelty to which the human heart may be degenerated. "Jealousy is cruel as the grave." Cant. 8: 6.

When pride and the love of dress are enthroned in us, we are disturbed by seeing others in better circumstances or arrayed more gorgeously than ourselves. If money is our god, we feel unkindly toward them who are more successful in its accumulation, and are inclined to speak disparagingly of them; we also feel an apparent satisfaction in their failures and mishaps.

If love of self—which is the Apollo of the human family—predominates, it renders us uncomfortable in nearly every circumstance of life. Our imperfections are concealed beneath a cloak of self-righteousness; we love flattery and are discomforted if another is preferred before us.

Isaiah speaks of idols made with our own hands, "that which our own fingers have made," and says, "each one for himself to worship." Isa. 2: 8, 20. These may include our decorated homes, ornaments, paintings, and anything that becomes our pride. Pride fostered in our children leads to idolatry. The little heads are soon filled with love of self, and images are conceived which eventually dethrone the God of heaven.

The Pantheon of Rome finds a counterpart in almost every human heart of to-day, and "many gods" take the place of the true one in all our affections. Truth alone is the "queen of heaven" and "sits in the heart of God." She is arrayed in modest apparel, and demands the adoration of all. Every knee must bow and every tongue confess before Him who is her personification, even Jesus, in whose fullness we should all dwell.—Workers' Bulletin.