Thursday, May 24, 2012

Moving Away From God


   In the 8th century B.C. God sent a prophet to preach in Israel.  That prophet’s name was Isaiah.  God’s charge against Israel was that they had forsaken Him, they had turned to evil and broken his holy laws.  We can almost hear Isaiah as he described the ugliness of their sin, “Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, A seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: They have forsaken the Lord, They have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, They are gone away backward. 5 Why should ye be stricken anymore? Ye will revolt more and more: The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. 6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; But wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: They have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment” (Isaiah 1.4-6).  Isaiah’s description of the ugliness of sin is spot on.  The nation of Israel was full of wickedness, murders, bribery, injustice, immorality of every kind, and worst of all they had turned to idol worship, idolatry.  Because of the nation’s sin God was going to send judgment upon them.  Isaiah was there to warn the people and give them a way of deliverance.  This was God’s offer, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1.18).  If they would have repented of their sin, asked God for forgiveness, and turned to live for Him, God would have forgiven their sin and preserved their land.  Alas, the biblical and historical record tells us of Israel’s continued pursuit of sin and the devastating judgment of God upon their land and nation.  There is a frightening parallel to this story taking place in our own day, in our own land.
   The United States of America has been and is now doing exactly what Israel did some 2,700 years ago.  This nation was founded on the truth that there is but one true and living God, Jehovah God.  This nation’s laws and moral conscience were founded on biblical truths.  We have come to a point today in our move away from God where we have a sitting president who has publicly announced his support for same sex marriage.  We now have ruling government bodies considering legislation and laws which would make it a hate crime to speak against the sin of same sex marriage.  As a nation we kill hundreds of thousands of unborn children every year through abortion on demand.  Pornography runs rampant on the internet and is polluting the minds of children who are barely old enough to sit at a computer.  We are a nation consumed with materialism and pleasures of the flesh.  Fornication and adultery are no longer looked down upon, but rather are accepted as a normal way of life.  The same charge God laid against Israel in the 8th century B.C. could be laid against the United States today.  We are a wicked people and getting more wicked every day.  There is but one future for a nation that continues down the path we are on and that future is judgment.  God is holy to a degree we cannot fully appreciate as human beings.  God’s very nature demands that He judge all wickedness.  God has already pronounced judgment upon evil and one day He will execute that judgment.
   Some would ask the question, what is God waiting for?  The answer to that question is found in the Bible.  Peter said, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3.9).  God’s desire is that we repent of our sin and turn to Him.  God’s desire is to forgive our sin and save our souls.  God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, who died on the cross of Calvary as payment for the sin of the whole world.  God offers forgiveness to all who will call on Him by faith and ask Him to save them.  However, we have to be willing to turn from our sin and wickedness to Him.  We have to be willing to give up our sin and ask Him to deliver us from our own evil ways.  God’s patience and delay in judgment is actually grace.  God’s delay in judgment is an opportunity to repent and be saved.  I pray that our nation will see revival and turn back to God before it is too late.  I pray that if you have never personally trusted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, that you would repent of your sin and ask Him by faith to save your soul right now.  Judgment day is coming and that is a fact.  Are you ready?

4 comments:

  1. as some parts of the USA get worse other parts get better the foundations for cancer or even the food drops in africa... we as a country have always stood up for the world around us... we are wicked but we are good... in the bible the way i interpret it the world was overcome with wicked people and wicked thoughts leaving little room for the charity that we have today... maybe that is the balancing act

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  2. I appreciate your confidence in our great nation, however, the prophet Isaiah said, "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteuosnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away" (Isaiah 64.6). No amount of good works in one area of life can make up for breaking God's laws in another area of life. I believe God is still using our nation for great good around the world. The problem, as pointed out in the post, is we are headed in the wrong direction. We are steadily moving away from God and historically that never turns out well for a nation. If we do not repent of our national sins and turn back to God, it is not going to be pretty! Thanks for sharing.

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  3. You are halfway right on this. But some points are way off.

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  4. I'm sure your observation has some basis, which half is "way off" and what brings you to that conclusion?

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