Today’s Headline From 2500 Years Ago
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know something is wrong with our society. But it does take intellectual honesty. The United States was founded on Biblical principles; our Founding Fathers came here to escape religious persecution from the English crown. But in the last two and a half centuries, we have travelled so far down the slippery slope of worldliness that we can barely see the residual of our Christian roots.
Consider a couple of our laws.
It’s illegal to steal, illegal to murder. Why? Where did we get that idea? They were part of a group of 10, given to Moses by God Himself. In Moses’ day, both carried severe penalties. Today, not so much. How have we deteriorated to the point where these two (and many others) are often winked at and rarely punished with “an eye for an eye” thinking instead of thinking perps are victims (of something).
I was reading in Daniel this morning and came across the answer. Although written around 530 BC, it answers the above question with specificity likely to be rejected by most in today’s “anything goes” society. Most people don’t like the idea of accountability to a Creator God who sets the rules. But see if the word to Israel then and the Church today isn’t spot on: “…all this calamity has come on us; yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our iniquity and giving attention to Your truth. Therefore the Lord has kept the calamity in store and brought it on us…but we have not obeyed His voice (Dan. 9:13,14; emphasis added).
Is it too late for America?
No, it’s never too late as long as we breathe. But the answer is one that not many will be willing to do. Hear God’s heart toward His people: (2 Chronicles 7:13-14 NASB) – “If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send a plague among My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and (I)will heal their land.” Notice this is written to God’s people, not the world at large.
What computer software can do is amazing. But there’s one basic command that follows a specific rule: If-Then. If you want a certain outcome, then you have to follow the specific rule. God’s promise is more sure than a computer if-then statement. We want healing for our land? Simple: 1) humble ourselves, 2) pray, 3) seek God, 4) turn from our wicked ways. We can’t blame God for our problems. We only have to look in a mirror to find the source.
What will it take
to stop hoping that electing the “right” politicians, and “tolerating” all kinds of aberrant behavior will somehow return us to a state of peace and serenity with no fear to walk my neighborhood at night? For the person who is willing to do the four steps outlined above, you will see the change you hope for in your own life and attain the “peace of God which surpasses all comprehension…” (Phil.4:7). That’s the secret, but also the problem.
Most people reading this won’t do what is necessary to change themselves and thereby change society. The second law of thermodynamics supports this: (paraphrased) all things in an “isolated system” degenerate into a more disordered state (entropy). That’s why man and his grand (and expensive) plans to control climate variances by passing laws and enacting unproven limits on society will only tax and aggravate the members and never accomplish their goals. Everything moves from order to chaos, never the other way around.
Something to think about:
If God punishes His people when they disobey Him, how much more will he punish those who reject Him? Thanks for reading.