Mankind naturally worships things that it believes is superior to itself. “Naturally” may not be the correct word. We are programmed to worship the Lord. We are programmed to live for eternity. That is why death upsets us so much. We are programmed to be cared for and live in a glorious home in the presence of the Lord. That is the reason for the universal practice of man to build as nice a house as he can afford.

But what does mankind worship? The ancients worshipped the Sun, the Moon, stars, animals, or whatever they felt was superior to themselves.

The Bible informs us that long ago there were giants on the earth. (Genesis 6:4) Some of these large beings were the Anakim. Who were the Anakim? The Anakim were sons of Anak. The name Anak means “long necked” (Strong’s H6061). They are described in Scripture as giants (Numbers 13:31-33), men of great stature.

When the Children of Israel took possession of the Promised Land, many of the giant peoples that lived there moved elsewhere. Evidence of their existence has been found all over the world, even here in North America.

Some believe that the practice of some people groups of placing rings around the neck to make the neck longer is due to emulation, or worship, of the long-necked Anakim. Large, non-human skulls have been found in South America. These skulls are elongated. There are people groups in South America that wrap the heads of infants with cloth and boards to make the young skulls more elongated. It could be said that by emulating these beings, these people were worshipping things that they considered superior.

Cargo Cult Image

An interesting phenomenon is the “cargo cults” of the South Pacific. Beginning in World War Two, the people living on isolated islands in the South Pacific were given food and the essentials of life by airplane. As a result, some of the islanders made images of airplanes, using the materials they had on hand. Apparently, these images were worshipped.

We may smile at these efforts to worship something thought to be superior, but what about our own culture today? We believe that we are so advanced, so sophisticated. What does our culture worship?

Look around you. Today the mankind that rejects the evidence of the supremacy of the Most High God, worships “Mother Earth,” or trees or nature because they believe these things will save them. Our culture worships the earth, because it believes if we take good care of the earth, it will save us by providing food, water and oxygen. (Romans 1:22-25) Or celebrities, performers, athletes are worshipped. That is why if a celebrity decides to wear his baseball cap backwards, many worshippers do the same. That is why marketers use celebrities to promote their products. The fans, or worshippers, will emulate their idols and buy the product.

There are several facets of mankind that are pre-programmed. Mankind is programmed to worship the Lord. If we do not worship the Lord, mankind unanimously worships something.

We are pre-programmed to worship. Take care to teach your children to worship God, because they will naturally and innately worship something.

We were created to worship the Creator. In modern parlance, you could say that we are “hard-wired” to worship. I urge you to worship the Creator, not creation. The earth and trees will not save us, but He, the God of Creation, will save us if we but ask. May His name be praised forever!