Satan's Counterfeit

Today I read 3 Nephi 21 which deals primarily with the gathering of scattered Israel. Jesus spends the majority of this time talking about what will happen with the Israelites in the last days. He talks about how the work of God will continue going forward in the last days and that the people will not be forgotten.

However, the part of this chapter that actually stood out to me and the thoughts that occurred to me the most were more about the conditions the Israelites must be in to be able to take advantage of the gathering and the Lord's mercy. The Savior stated that His people needed to be free of idol worship, the groves needed to be plucked up and they needed to be searching for the Lord their God.

And those verses really got me thinking about Satan's counterfeit and the fallacy of mankind. I have always wondered why it is that people will worship idols. Now, I'm not talking about in our day and age where we are putting things in front of our Heavenly Father. I understand that anything that comes between our Heavenly Father and us is an idol and that we should not have anything come between us and Him. But I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about honest to goodness idols, statues, golden calves, the works and I cannot for the life of me understand why people would want to worship things like that.

Now the groves of trees from the Old Testament I completely understand. A lot of the pagan gods and rituals for worshiping them involved sex, and lots of it. So I get that part. I understand that is the drive for people to be a part of those "worship" ceremonies. But I can never understand why the Israelites in the Old Testament were so quick to bow down to a statue made of gold in the shape of a baby cow.

And that got me thinking about the other things Satan does that are counterfeit or taking advantage of wonderful things the Lord has caused to be created for our benefit. The Lord inspired someone to make a movie camera so that people could see representations of spiritual things and be entertained with wholesome stories to fascinate and relax us. Satan inspired others to use those same inventions to spread pornography. The Lord caused television to be created and suddenly those people from the farthest reaches of the world can now enjoy messages from our leaders without having to travel to them. Satan inspires those same people to put their pornography on the television and spread its horrible influence even further.

And perhaps the greatest invention yet for spreading the Gospel and doing good, the internet. No one needs me to expound just how THAT wonderful invention is being "utilized" by Satan. It does seem that every time some wonderful invention comes along that came be utilized for good, Satan takes it and uses it to further his own work too. Paper, the printing press, radio and we've already talked about movies, television and the internet. The list goes on and on.

We have already explored in depth the reason why the people need to be righteous to take advantage of the blessings of the Gospel and why the next life is so dependent upon our living a righteous life in this life. Another reason thought that we have not explored quite as much is a simple one that it will let us be happy. Now there are many, many out there who would argue that sinning is fun and makes them happy, mostly those doing it or teenagers who don't know any better. But does it really make one's life happy? Ask anyone who has lost a loved one to a drunk driver and see if they think drinking makes one happy. Ask anyone who has gotten throat or lung cancer and see if they think smoking is a great thing. Ask someone who has AIDS or another disease gotten from inappropriate sex and see if they think promiscuity is such a wonderful freedom now.

Teenagers usually don't realize it, but the Gospel is there to make us happy! The Lord knows how to live the happiest life possible and while all of those things may release endorphins and the individual acts may have been enjoyable, the ultimate consequences will not be. All these vices we are talking about are the counterfeits to the Gospel and a true happy life. Nothing beats the joy of service and the joy having the Spirit brings, nothing else compares. Most drunks, smokers, druggies or prostitutes don't actually like their lives. They are using those things as a means to escape their lives and the emptiness they feel. An emptiness caused because they feel there is something more, something they are missing and they are trying to fill it. Just about everyone, even if you were born in the church, goes through something like that. The only thing that can truly fill it is the gospel.

Don't fall for Satan's counterfeits. Remember Alma's words to his son, Corianton, "Wickedness never was happiness". As we live the Gospel we will find true peace and lasting happiness. I promise you that. Until tomorrow.