Whose fault is it?

Rain, we got rain today – and for a while it came down pretty hard, over a 10^th of an inch thus far, which for us is quite a bit.  Forecast is for more showers, off and on through tonight.

Having some stressors last couple days, but we are dealing with them.  Not much else happening.    

Genesis 2:12-13   And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
¹³ And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

It is not my fault – it is someone else’s is not just the theme of today’s people, but started with Adam and Eve.  Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed he serpent. 

However, we seem to be taking that excuse to new levels here in America.  Few people take responsibility for their actions.  President Truman had a sign on his desk that said the ‘buck stops here.’  But few wish to accept that statement for themselves and when they do make it they don’t expect any consequences for their actions – I take responsibility, but I keep my job, my benefits, prestige, etc.  I have accepted responsibility, now leave me alone.

How do we reach these kinds of people for Christ?  When everything is either okay or someone else’s fault, how can we convince them that their actions are not okay - they are sins against God?  How can we tell them that they are responsible for their actions when society tells them they were born that way, or their parents didn’t do a good job, or they lived in a poor part of town and they were deprived of a good education and forced to live among hoodlums and that is why they are committing crimes? 

How do we reach people for Christ when the only thing they are interested in is self-gratification?  Living for Christ is hard work and they don’t want to be bothered.  Their entertainment consist of other doing something for them; rather than engaging in interaction with real live people they use video games, the internet or other electronic gizmos to occupy their time.

How do we reach people for Christ when our nation is officially denying the existence of God and Christ?  Our government and courts are persecuting and prosecuting Christians for living the Word of God; Christians are being denied their livelihood because they will not bow down to regulations that are against the Word of God.  And what is even worse, many so-called Christian organizations support that maltreatment.  How can we overcome this behavior?  Our country is being destroyed from the moral depravity from within, how can we overcome it?  The world has never seen such moral decay as we now have existing in America.  Or, has it?

Jeremiah 12:10-11 Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.
¹¹ They have made it desolate, and being desolate it mourneth unto me; the whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth it to heart.
Isaiah 57:1  The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.

The Old Testament is full of such depravity as Jeremiah proclaims.  People have disobeyed God from the time of Adam through today, and will continue until Christ comes back. 

We are living through some tenuous times in this world.  The evidence of evil exists in almost every headline and every news account.  Christians and Jews are being discriminated against, attacked and killed and the world brushes it off, wringing its hands but refusing to acknowledge that God needs to be involved in the decisions of this world.

Jeremiah 12:16-17 And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, The Lord liveth; as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built in the midst of my people.
¹⁷ But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the Lord.

And, lest we think that the Old Testament is different, that God doesn’t concern Himself with nations or communities:

Luke 1012-14  But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city.
¹³ Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
¹⁴ But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment, than for you.

Despite the miracles Jesus performed in confirmation of Who He is these cities rejected Him; and He called them on it.

So how do we get our nation – indeed the world - to repent of its sinful condition?  Are we so far gone that there is not hope for us? 

I think there is, not that it will be easy, but it can be done.

Luke 11:32-33 The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.
³³ No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light.

Jonah preached in Nineveh and the people repented, but Jesus is far greater than Jonah.  Unfortunately, even in His time many people did not listen or believe in Him – but many did and they repented and changed their ways.

Luke 11:34-36 The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness.
³⁵ Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.
³⁶ If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.

While God will deal with our nation, He primarily works through individuals.  As Christians we have a personal relationship with Christ.  It is that personal relationship that changes the Christian.  If, as Christians, we take seriously the admonition of shining our light for Christ, then people will be drawn to that light.  It will allow us to teach them about Christ.  The Holy Spirit will use our light and out testimony – along with other sources we may not be aware of – to touch the heart of that person.  They will be given an opportunity to accept Christ.  The more people that accept Christ the more influence the Christians can have on the selection of politicians and their decisions.

God longs to change the hearts of man.  He uses man to preach His Word.  We are the ones He is using.  We must not let Him down.  The nation has gone astray, because the people are denying God and His precepts; it is up to each of us to help others find their way back to Him.  We can put this country back on a moral footing one convert at a time – and maybe one of them will become the Jonah to our Nineveh.

Later, Art :-)