Deadly Idolatry Redux

The wall to wall cable news coverage yesterday of the death of Anna Nicole Smith reminded me of a previous post of mine last September about the dangers of idolatry. Smith idolized Marilyn Monroe, and met a similar fate. Instead of worshipping Christ and living a wholesome life of godliness and peace, Miss Smith (like Marilyn Monroe, she took a nom de plume - her real name was Vicky Hogan) chose to be a stripper and then found fame (again like Marilyn) as a Playboy centerfold. The remainder of her time on earth was marked by drug abuse, public intoxication, and a sad deterioration of her personal life.

Two verses come to mind. "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23) and "the way of transgressors is hard" (Proverbs 13:15). Whom or what we choose to idolize can have deadly consequences. Fame and fortune were no friends to this young woman, and yet I doubt it will stem the tide of countless others who will literally die to follow in the footsteps of Marilyn Monroe and Anna Nicole Smith. Drugs, pornography, serial marriages, and early deaths await those who idolize these women. What they need is Christ. What Anna Nicole needed was Christ. What she wanted was something else, and it killed her. Once again let us heed the Bible's warning: "Little children, keep yourselves from idols" (1 John 5:21).