During this pandemic, social media is full of people saying: “You do you and I’ll do me.” There is definitely merit in this when talking about some things. Some folks really like Fords and some really like Chevrolet. We have different preferences.
There are some instances when this just won’t work. The government says we have to pay income taxes if we have income. We have to pay ad valorem and sales tax when we buy things. If we want to shop in Best Buy, we have to pay not only what is on the price tag but also sales tax if we want to walk out with a television. If we walk out with the TV without paying, there are going to be consequences.
So, we are clear that in a simple preference-type situation we are free to make choices. When we are contesting the rules of the government or infringing on the rights (taking property) of others, my way versus your way is not a simple personal choice anymore. We learned this lesson a long time ago before we were much beyond the diaper stage.
When life is good, we probably don’t give much thought to this concept. We go to school, then to work and start the accumulation of things that give us pleasurable and comfortable lives. We like lots and lots of diversity in our food, our scenery, our activities and travels, our friends and entertainments. Watching the ads on all the television stations is an astonishing display of all we can do and have. “It’s all good.”
Except it’s not. Right now. Not all good.
Now. What’s happening questions are popping up everywhere. Jonathan Cahn published a book this year in which he compares the similarity of times Isaiah recorded when God’s people were not in sync with God to our current situation and troubles. There have been others who are writing about prophetic events are unfolding that are indicating that the End Time are upon us. There are some fisted fingers pointing right back at ourselves as the root of all the troubles of the times. We caused this succession of disasters of 2020, some are saying, by trying to make ourselves the gods of our own lives, pleasures and propersity.
From the beginning of the Bible, there are warnings that we are to be careful about our choices and that there are severe consequences if we follow our own preferences in defiance of God’s laws.
Genesis 2:15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.
This is the original sin. That first couple, Adam and Eve, made the decision to “I’ll do me” regardless of what God had told them to do. This demonstration of self-worship, believing that one’s own judgement is superior to God’s judgement, becomes the prominent theme of disobedience throughout the Bible. This appears to often be the WHY regardless of WHAT sinful thing was done.
There are stories in the Bible that record the history of cities that were filled with people who did what they wanted to do regardless of how their actions affected others or if these were in conflict with God’s ways. Notable among these are the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, with named sins of rape, haughtiness and egoism—all evidence of narcissism. Crimes against nature, crimes against the laws of the land, crimes neighbor against neighbor all were part of the set of crimes against God. There were consequences for loving oneself more than God.
A number of fellow Christians are speaking out about this accountability issue right now. Some are saying that this country’s problems are direct evidence that this country has turned its back on God’s ways and we are suffering the consequences with the worst yet to come. We are going down! Others are saying that the trend of bad things unfolding in the USA have all been a series of warnings and that we need to get the message out that we have to change our ways NOW or we will definitely will go down! This group is holding that we can return to the prosperous country of before.
Punishment being enacted or warning? … being abandoned for our disbelief? …about to fail as a nation?
I know this: I don’t know and I am not sure any of us can know. What I do know is that for today, for the gift of a new day every day, we can live each in belief. God inspired many stories of godly people messing up big time. We are given stories about sincere regret for this transgression and committed efforts to try back to God, with pure belief in t
We can repent for our failures, pray for guidance and live with gratitude for the day we have and for the continuation of life after this through belief and acceptance of Jesus as the Son of God.
Hebrews 3:12-14
12-14 So watch your step, friends. Make sure there’s no evil unbelief lying around that will trip you up and throw you off course, diverting you from the living God. For as long as it’s still God’s Today, keep each other on your toes so sin doesn’t slow down your reflexes. If we can only keep our grip on the sure thing we started out with, we’re in this with Christ for the long haul.
These words keep ringing in our ears:
Today, please listen; don’t turn a deaf ear as in the bitter uprising.
Don’t be naive. There are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. They’ll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they’re animals. Stay clear of these people. ...
John 3:16-18
16-18 “This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.