He Gave Them Over

“...since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do that what ought not to be done...” (Romans 1:28-32) I’ll admit right up front, I’m about as politically correct as a train wreck. In less than four weeks, voters of this country are going to tell God to hit the road, or, help us to heal our country. Which candidate will discipline, and which will let the country run wild? Every citizen ought to think about this very seriously; pray about it, and vote their conscience.

[Matthew 22:36-40] “’Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’ Jesus replied, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second s like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’” Rick Reilly wrote an article for Sports Illustrated in 2003 titled, “Let Us Play.” He described in his article how many families in America are opting to engage in recreational activities on Sunday instead of attending worship services. He quoted many religious leaders who have decried the loss of spirituality in our society. Reilly attributed this to parents placing too much importance on the success of their children in sports. He wrote, “For some reason over-caffeinated parents feel they have to ‘keep up’ with the Joneses. They used to do it with their cars and houses. Now they do it with their kids.” Reilly also commented on parents inundating their children with recreation. Again, he wrote, “…I just feel sorry for these kids who get nothing but organized sports crammed down their gullets 24/7.” The Bible tells us what is truly important in this life. We are told to love God more than anything else. We are told to put the Lord first in everything we do. Paul says, “...I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship” (Romans 12:1). The writer of Hebrews makes it plain where our energy should be directed when he says, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25). Rick Reilly may not be a person we would normally turn to for spiritual advice, but his article helps to remind us that the Lord expects us to put him first. When we choose other activities over him we are not putting him first, and we simultaneously send the very same message to our children. Reilly made a tremendous point when he wrote, “Just remember, when little Shaniqua has two free throws to win or lose a game on some Sunday morning, good luck finding somebody who’ll answer your prayers.” Let us all remember what is truly important in this life and strive to always put God first. Those children are now in their twenties and so deeply engrained in me-ism they have no respect for their God, their neighbor or the law of the land. Living in a land given and blessed by God we have a generation that complained they were oppressed by the will of God and walked away from Him. Today’s young people say they are oppressed by the laws of the land and are allowing our leaders to rewrite the fundamentals of law to conform to their lifestyle, separate from God, and nation-wide chaos is spreading like cancer - a cancer that will destroy and kill the free republic we’ve enjoyed for more than two hundred years, and so many have defended, even unto death. One morning this country is going to awake to the realization we no longer have the right to worship our loving God, because He’ll be gone!