“Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods Before Me.”

''THOU SHALT HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME/' BY LYDIA D. ALDER, ENGLISH MISSIONARY. Generations have been born, have lived and passed away, since Moses, the great lawgiver, announced to Israel God's first commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." No penalty is attached to it, if broken; no reward, if observed. Still, both are in evidence to the understanding of the human mind; for reward or penalty surely follows its observance or disregard. Amidst the thunderings of Sinai it was given to a people freed but yesterday from bondage, by the power of the Omnipotent who for that deliverance declares that they shall serve him alone. But the mind of man is prone to evil. Soon God, and the mighty miracles wrought by him were forgotten. And the jewels and gold of the Egyptians were used to make a God that they could see. They strove not to be more worthy, that they might stand on the holy mount and not die; or even see God in the midst of its burnings. They strove not to rise to meet Jehovah, but went down and made a god of the dross of the earth, with their hands of flesh and blood. Behold! the golden calf which they could look upon and not be afraid. While their leader pleads for them with the Majesty of heaven, they are breaking the commandments. What a dreadful price was required at their hands for the broken law! 0, that they had been obedient! 0, that they had hearkened, and remembered, "Thou shalt have no other Gods before me!" As it was then, so it is now. That law never has been re-

920 IMPROVEMENT ERA. yoked, but stands out in pre-eminence, written by the finger of the Almighty, with the unwritten penalty against its violation. It is true the sufferings of persons or peoples remain unfelt by those who taste not of them. Perhaps this is one reason why this first great commandment is so much disregarded. Many of God's children ignore him altogether; declare with an oath that they know him not! They esteem it an honor to be called infidel, atheist, or something akin; anything, so that the first commandment is broken. And what is the result of this sin? They drift farther and farther away from a loving parent, at every step increasing the distance betweed him and themselves; at last, in the thick darkness, they become lost among the fogs and mists, finally sinking out of sight and are hidden away. Yet in the dim consciousness of the last thought, this terrible truth is spoken as loud as when thundered from Sinai, "Thou shalt have no other Gods before me." What other Gods? Gold, the yellow idol, claims worship from many of earth's children. Every day one can see its devotees bow down and worship before its shrine. The greed of gold can see the hungry starve; the weak, faint and die, nor part with one ill-gotten ingot. It steels the heart to the call of mercy, deadens the ear to the orphan's cry, and crushes the widow, who imploringly raises her hand for charity. It never hears the glee of childhood, nor the music of sweet murmuring rills, even the roar of the cataract is unheard. All that is grand or great weighs as nothing against this passion. It stands not aghast when the life blood is freezing in the heart of its victim; but, with a vulture's fierceness, snatches the coin out of the dead hand, and laughs in demoniacal glee at the sight of the glittering siren. Yet the unwritten law asserts itself. Unloved in life, unrenowned in death, is the penalty. ' This love cannot close the filmy eye, cannot assuage the parched lips with refreshing draughts, cannot hold the chilling hand or smooth the clammy brow. When the unalterable fiat goes forth, "This night thy soul is required of thee," and the debt has to be met, gold has no power to repudiate it. In insignificance, it sinks before the given commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Ambition. At ambition's shrine many worship. Ambition clutches its object in splendid apparel, thus luring the blinded

"THOU SHALT HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME." 921 'Ones on. Oftentimes the path is rugged, then steep and slippery, but always dangerous. Ambition floats away and away, high and above the strained vision; yet it is so alluring that though the path behind is marked in blood, it is unheeded. Fingers bruised in fruitless endeavors to clutch the sharp, jutting rocks are unfelt; the rapid beating heart and pulsating brain are forgotten in its will-o'-the-wisp pursuit. Even if caught at length, it is held by nerveless fingers, from which the lines of life are already slipping away; just a moment, then falls utter darkness. "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Power. Many peoples of many lands make their obeisance to power. To rule the world, then cry for other worlds wherein to hold dominion, illustrates the passion for power. Its love steeps the soul in crime, its abuse fills the regions of the damned. Clasped hands with ambition it soars to the throne of God, and would hurl him from his high estate. Mountains, seas, life nor death, are of ^ny moment, if they impede its progress; madly it rushes on in pursuit of pre-eminence, until it destroys man both body and soul. To feed it is to inflate it with greed that naught can satisfy. Impotent, it demands all things earthly, crushing right like a puny child, and insulting Deity itself. It is a sop that dulls the brain, and drags its victim to the very edge of an eternal abyss, where, at its depth, are darkness and night, and oblivion casts her mantle over all her subjects. It, too, must fall, under the foot of the stealthy foe that crushes all things to powder. But the echo from chasm or dust only reiterates, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Glory. The love of glory sets the world on fire. Bands are playing, flags flying, and the steady tramp, tramp of soldiers is intoxicating to its votaries. The fear of death is forgotten, or if remembered at all, is associated with the planting of the colors on some dangerous peak, the exultation of seeing them there just for a moment, ere the eye glazes o'er in death — this esteemed glory. Or, perchance, to be wrapped in the nation's banner, or hear the heavy roar of cannon, as the rod falls on the stiffened form. Is this glory? To vaunt that thousands have been slain, sent uncalled into

922 . IMPROVEMENT ERA. eternity, leaving moans and cries in as many households; or that the widow's son will never cheer her breaking heart again, or tell of mothers left childless, or children orphans, or the wife left to battle where no flags float or drums beat, though the ground is bedewed with blood tears. Is this glory? It is true, some win the epaulets, some gain the cross of distinction, but can even that be called glory? 0, how dreadful the cost of earthly glory, which is but the counterfeit of that glory which abides in the world beyond forever, and can always be won for the striving — glory that fades not away; glory that causes no falling tear; glory unto that God who has said, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Pleasure. Of all earth's delusions this is chief and foremost. To sail on the river, to play in the dell, is enchanting. To ramble in the woods where rabbits play hide-and-seek and the squirrels deftly climb the trees; where many voices murmur and song birds trill their melodious lays; where a sense of rest breathes from tree and flower, this is true pleasure. But the false is most loved by the children of men. Pleasure is a shy goddess, that ever evades those who pursue her. The shadows are long that fall behind her, and these are grasped by her votaries, who live in a whirl of excitement; the dance, the play, the music, keeps an unnatural fire burning in the veins of youth, until it is passed away, the halcyon days gone forever. As time slips away, these pleasures pass, and with them the capabihty to enjoy. They do not satisfy even when we hold them; in the midst of them, a sigh rises from the very heart, and a feeling of oppression fills our being. We yearn for something more; some undefinable sense rests upon us, which none of these things can satisfy, for we shall have "no other gods before me." Friendship. "No greater love hath man than this, that hewill give his life for his friend." Soothing and sweet is friendship! Heart sympathizing with heart, thought associating with thought, sure of a perfect understanding, unselfish, seeking only the good of its object. What joy thus to understand and be understood! But coldness and estrangement may come between friends; paper walls may grow up thick, and high, over which they may never in life, clasp hands again.

"THOU SHALT HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME." 923 The sweetness of the past is forgotten, when coldly they meet on life's highway, and silently pass as strangers. Does not the heart thus cruelly crushed, remember the words written on the tablets of stone? "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Love. Hearts are laid on this altar, and affection the incense that rises therefrom. Its worshipers lowly bend at its feet, in every land and clime. It is as old as Eden, yet it is ever new and young. The sun shines with glories divine, the birds sing in enchanting chorus; flowers are blushing beneath rosy skies; fountains sing a lullaby, and ambrosial odors are scattered by the winds of heaven. When love fills the heart, life speeds on fairy feet, and soars on clouds of amber and gold until infatuation blinds its subject; then, drunken with its wine, myriads bow down and worship. Is it a child that steals away the heart? See the rosy tint forsake its cheek; the lip lose its bloom. Behold the sunny curls heavy with death's dampness. Cling closely to the frail form, so as to shield it from cold winds that blow, and learn that in spite of you, it is gone; gone where you are powerless to follow; leaving the clay in your trembling embrace. Amid the awful silence, hear God's decree, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Does love sit enthroned on your hearthstone? Day and night, does it beautify your home? Do warmth and light gild its walls with a radiance divine? Boast no't thyself! The heavens are aflame with crimson and gold, and the sun sinks in a blazing bed ere it goes out into darkness and night. So fade the suns of life, eclipsed by darkening clouds, thick and dense. Have you leaned on a strong arm? How strangely cold it has grown; unable longer to shield you from the chilling blasts of life, or guide you through its hidden snares and pit falls. Then in the darkened room, far away from toil and fret, bow down before the King and learn the lesson he has set for you, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Is it a beloved, whose tender love pulses through your heart, closely entwining itself through every fibre, that its every beat throws out other clinging tendrils? Does love shine in the downcast eye and tremble unspoken on the lip? Does it envelop the earthly object in rays divine? Lo, it passes away, and in

■924 IMPROVEMENT ERA. bitterness and tears you must learn, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Or love may change. A steely coldness creep into the eye, where was wont to burn and glow the elixir of life. As a mockery now sound the words: "I have no past where thou art not, Or future that's unshared by thee." What is more cruel than changed love? Love is the sun of life; then what is life without its sun? Darkness, chilling, cold, "unendurable, made even more dark and gloomy by the contrast of what went before. Hearts are made of brittle material, and sometimes under such heavy pressure, the slender threads giving way break for lack of that living chord that binds heart to heart. As a benison fall the words on death's cold ear, ''Thou shalt have no other god's before me." For this sweet assurance comes that though the heart is crushed in the crucible, yet with God all is light, joy and gladness. Houses and possessions. Do you prize worldly possessions? Lo! they, too, are of earth, and perish with the handling; nothing remaining but ashes, which are scattered by the winds of heaven, leaving nought but emptiness in your outstretched hand, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Love the Lord thy God. In the meridian of time, came the world's great Mediator, and again the law is given to man (Luke 10: 27.) "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself." To love God and be unselfish, this is the requirement. This is the love that passeth not away, but endureth forever. To be thus one with God, is to find in him, all that seemingly we have lost in this life; with him all our treasures that we laid away, or placed upon the altar. Nothing is lost; not a heart-beat, not a prayer nor a sob, but is known and felt by the universe. Not a hand raised in supplication, but vibrates to its uttermost bounds. Then do not all things exist in God? To love and serve him brings us all things that are enjoyable, for all things are his. "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all

"THOU SHALT HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME." 925 other things shall be added." This instruction was given also by the Messiah. There is no room for doubt; no hidden meaning in the commandment. Those who heard were to let their first love be for the kingdom; if done faithfully, all other things were to be added. No blessing, or any good thing would be denied to those thus admonished; it was only another form, to express the great truths that were enunciated from Sinai. (Luke 18: 29, 30.) "Verily, I say unto you, there is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake, who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting." (Mark 10: 30). "But he shall receive an hundred fold now in this time, houses, and brethren and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecu. tions; and in the world to come eternal life." These are the words of Christ; his words being sure, we wil] find joy to our souls. Let none store by earthly jewels, for they are of no avail. Note their hideous glare on the cold dead hand whose beauties are brought out, intensified and made exquisite by the great sculptor. Death, in whose presence the things of earth pall and are branded "Worthless;" one even turns from their contemplation with a shudder, having a full understanding of the value of all things of earth. Matthew (19: 29), says, "And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundred fold, and shall inherit everlasting life." We are also admonished, "to lay up our treasures in heaven, where moth nor rust can enter, nor thieves break through and steal ." There we will enjoy eternal riches, with no corresponding weight of care. All that we have and are, are Christ's, and he is God's; if we are true to him, we will become joint heirs with him in his Father's kingdom. Today we roam as strangers in banishment, then we will be at home forever more. Then shall we build up the kingdom! Will we go to the nations of the earth? Will we leave all for the Gospel's sake, and in humility carry its tidings from door to door searching for the honest in heart, despised and rejected of men? Yes; seeking only the highest reward that can be given