Jun 16 2009
How Did We Get Into Such a Mess?
Are you struggling as I am with what’s happening today? I look around me as if in a dream from which I can’t wake, and shake my head. How did this happen? Why doesn’t somebody do something to stop our downward spiral?
And then I focus on the truth, that God is sovereign. This hasn’t taken Him by surprise, nor has it altered His plans. What’s happening now is actually a part of His plan of judgment, whether we want to hear it or not.
Obviously this isn’t His perfect will for our country, but we walked away from that when we denied our responsibility to live in holiness. In essence we sold our godly birthright for the chance to live like the devil. Now I’m not saying this describes all of us, but those of us who held fast did little to stop the tide of sin that swept over us. We insulated ourselves from the world as if to make it all go away. And many of those who held fast for a time eventually ended up selling their souls in exchange for the good life.
Not that there weren’t preachers preaching the gospel. They were, but most people had little use for the gospel, and even some of those preachers fell into temptation or led people astray with promises of even greater prosperity. In truth, we’ve fallen so far from our roots that we are scarcely recognizable as the one-time model of righteousness, compassion and wisdom the world looked up to.
In some ways our wealth has been our undoing. We, like the rich man in Scripture, patted ourselves on the back and said, “Be at ease my soul, for you have built up barns full of good things to last for many years. In fact, you have so much you should now pull down those barns and build bigger ones.” (Author paraphrase.)
And so we focused our attention on our things, rather than seeking God and asking Him how He wanted us to live and use that wealth. How many of us have ever won one soul to Christ? How many chances have we had that we ignored or didn’t even notice? How many people are languishing in hell forever because we did not take seriously the Great Commission?
We could’ve done so much with our wealth. We could’ve personally helped feed the starving, ministered to the poor and ill, the widows and those without hope, and supported missionaries and ministries. We could’ve touched our neighbors with the love of God during a time of need. And maybe we did that on occasion, but couldn’t we have done more? We have the good news, the best news of all time. But what have we done with it? Most of us were doing our own thing, giving only token assent to the gospel, essentially hiding our light under that bushel basket Scripture talks about. Burying our talent in the ground, just like the man in Matthew who was sent into outer darkness forever.
I personally have done so much less than I could have, that now I can only say, “God, forgive me. Help me wake up and redeem the time, because it’s fleeting, and the days are evil.”
The time has come for us to wake from sleep, throw off all the weights that beset us, the things, material and mental that hinder us, and commit to following God in obedience. To loving and serving Him with all our hearts, souls and minds, and shouting from the rooftops that Jesus is alive and well on Planet Earth, and that He’s coming soon.
Today is the day of salvation for those who will hear the gospel, so let’s not waste one more moment of time wishing for the “old days.” The old days are gone forever, so let’s look up and get about our Father’s business, and make every day count for eternity.
Because of His great love,
Nancy
