We worship at the altar of our own pride and ego.

This often takes the form of obsession with careers and jobs. Millions of people spend a good portion of their life working even on the weekends and during vacations, our laptops are humming and our minds are whirling with thoughts of how to make our businesses more successful, how to get that promotion, how to get the next raise, how to close the next deal.

In the meantime, children are starving for attention and love. People convince themselves into thinking they are doing it for them, to give them a better life. But the truth is many are doing it for themselves, to increase self-esteem by appearing more successful in the eyes of the world.

All our labors and accomplishments will be of no use to us after we die, nor will the admiration of the world, because these things have no eternal value.

Finally, and perhaps most destructively, we worship at the altar of self-importance  often to the exclusion of all others and their needs and desires.

This manifests itself in self-indulgence through things like  alcohol, drugs, and food. Those in affluent countries have unlimited access to alcohol, drugs (prescription drug use is at an all-time high, even among children), and food.

The self-control we so desperately need is rejected in our insatiable desire to eat, drink, and medicate more and more. We resist any effort to get us to curb our appetites, and we are determined to make ourselves the god of our lives.

If we are to escape modern idolatry, we have to admit that it is rampant and reject it in all its forms. It is not of God, but of Satan, and in it we will never find fulfilment. This is the great lie and the same one Satan has been telling since he first lied to Adam and Eve. Sadly, we are still falling for it.

we will never find happiness focusing on ourselves. Our hearts and minds must be centred on God and on others.

I think this is why when asked what is the greatest commandment, Jesus replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” When we love the Lord and others with everything that is in us, there will be no room in our hearts for idolatry.