As I sit here this morning, I find myself thinking that we are living in uncertain times. Waiti a moment, we are always living in uncertain times. Can we ever be certain of what is going to go on during any given day? I think about what James writes, Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make profit" - yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. (James 4:13-14 ESV) Following this recent presidental election, there is a lot of hand wringing and celebrating. Those who wanted Pres. Trump reelected, there is hand wringing. For those who wanted Joe Biden elected, there is celebrating. There are those who are talking about how terrible it is going to get under a new administration and those who are saying how wonderful it will be under a new adminstration. It all depends on your perspective.
What I think about is that while I might feel that things was going well under Pres. Trump, the reality is, sin was still running rampant. He did not stop sin. He did not stop people from going against the will of God. And Joe Biden will not stop sin either. He will not stop people from going against the will of God. The reality is, people are still going to live according to their own sinful desires no matter who is president of the United States. If you think anything else, you are only fooling yourself. There is no person here on earth that is going to change the way people live.
Unfortunately, those who are leading our nation, on both sides of the aisle, are living just like you and me - living according to the ways of the world. What a challenge it is for us to live as the Lord would have us live. This is the challenge of living as a saint and sinner in this world. Each day, we might want to live according to the will of God, while at the same time, there is a part of us that might want to live according to the way of the fallen world.
Do you feel that it is all right to have sexual relations outside of marriage? The Lord doesn't. Do you feel that it is all right to end the life of the unborn child before he/she is born? The Lord doesn't. Do you feel it is all right to talk poorly about another person, perhaps the person that was elected that you don't like, or the person who was not elected that you don't like? The Lord doesn't. Do you feel it is all right to mask shame people? The Lord doesn't. Do you feel it is all right to destroy someone's reputation? The Lord doesn't.
I am not saying that I am a perfect person, living according to the will of the Lord each day. I am not. I sin daily. I do ask God to forgive me each day, to forgive me for the sins that I have done, those I know and those I don't know. Having said that, I would say the same about each and every person. We are all sinful people who need the Lord each day. We need the forgiveness of the Lord each day.
And then, as we are forgiven, then we need to ask the Lord to help us to live differently today. We need our hearts to change. Instead of talking poorly about each other, we should build each other up. Instead of tearing down one side or another, we should find ways to build each side up.
Will that happen? In truth, I doubt it. Why? Because of sin. Because we are sinful people. We will do what we can to say what we feel we should, and we will justify it. I don't care who you are (myself included), we will not live in perfection. As I listen to the news (both sides), I do not hear unity and peace. I hear sinful division. Again and again. I am sure that someone will be upset with me for saying these things, but that won't surprise me. Why? Because we are sinful people who will do what we can to say unkind things about others, even those we don't know. We will make judgments. We will speak our opinions, which are generally uniformed and baseless. And we will feel that we are correct in doing so.
Lord, I pray for our nation. I pray for our leaders. I pray for each person. I ask that we might live according to Your will. (I know that many do not hold onto You, don't believe in You, don't want anything to do with You, but I ask that You would still work in their lives.) Lord, Your will be done.
No comments:
Post a Comment