Over the years, how many times have you heard people lament the fact that the news of the world is always bad? I remember growing up and hearing the adults talk about the sorry state of our world. As a child, I didn’t really understand because I had a pretty much carefree life. My world consisted of my family and friends, and they all seemed to be doing alright. I really don’t remember when I started to become more aware of world events; maybe it was after I was married and kids of my own because at that point, you have to become a “grown-up.”
As we go through life, things change. Not all change is good. Here in our own country, we have seen changes that seem to be shredding this country apart. Political parties blame one another for governmental problems often while forgetting that their responsibility is to the citizens of this country and not push personal agendas. We have seen our Constitution interpreted in ways that those who drafted it probably never dreamed of. There have been some amendments added that I am sure never crossed their minds. Now some of those amendments are good and were needed. Others go against the very foundation on which this country was built.
That brings us to the point. The deterioration of our society is directly related to the fact we are moving farther and farther away from our foundation. When you lose your foundation, things are going to collapse. It is obvious from our founding documents that our founding fathers had reliance on God and built this country on their Christian values and principles. That foundation has been challenged fiercely in the 20th and 21st centuries and now, here we are in the part of the third decade of the 21st century and many people are acting as if they have no sense. They are self-centered and self-serving. They have no compassion or concern for anyone else. They look at laws as something to be broken. Violence and rebellion seem to be the answer to any problem.
Because our government has promoted moving away from God and His principles, this country’s foundation is crumbling. They have allowed the minority to rule. They have twisted what is good and what is evil Of course, the Apostle Paul warned Timothy about this, “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (II Timothy 3:1-4). We see this coming to fruition today. You cannot move off your foundation and expect to stand.
God is the Creator of life. He is the Author of salvation. He has given us His word to guide us through life. God never says that everyone must become a Christian, He merely shows that there are two paths to follow in life. One path leads to eternal life in heaven and the other leads to eternal punishment in hell. The Bible makes it clear that the choice is ours of which path to follow. The path to heaven is a foundation that offers stability with joy and happiness at the end. The path to hell is a crumbling path with pitfalls that has nothing to offer at the end but pain and suffering.
As we approach our country’s 245th birthday, I implore my brothers and sisters to drop to their knees and pray for our country. Pray for God’s healing and power. Pray for the courage to stand for what is right. Pray that God will use each of us to make America the Christian nation it once was. Pray for the sake of our children and grandchildren and all generations that follow!
Read II Chronicles 7:13-16