Slowly Eaten Away

A published article reported that a young man who once found a $5 bill on the street resolved that from then on he would keep his eyes on the ground while walking. The article went on to say that over the years this man had accumulated, among other things, 29,516 buttons, 54,172 pins, 12 cents, a bent back and a miserly disposition. But he had lost some things also, including the glory of the sunlight warming his face, the radiance of the stars twinkling in his eyes, the smiles of want-to-be friends and the fresh air of clear blue skies. It amazes me the priorities people assign their focus, as to what is note-worthy national and world news, needing to be shared each day of the week. It seems what goes on across the back-yard fence of the typical neighborhood is of nobodies business, that is unless they are a public servant of some kind, or a high profile sports figure, or the CEO of a large company. Then everybody wants to get on the bandwagon to crucify whomever they think is in the wrong. Society of today is becoming like that of a major league baseball pitcher who plugs his ears with cotton to cut out all the distractions that might be coming from unruly fans in the bleachers. Don’t get me wrong here. It thrills me that people take a stand against thoughtless law-breakers who profit from their lawlessness, or who think they are better than the law and untouchable. But these problems of behavior started in the home many years before their ultimate decent from fame. What I’m saying is, our focus on life has to extend beyond our personal interests looking up and taking the cotton out of our ears, at least once in a while, to give attention to fathering and mothering our self-centered children with some basic moral and ethical ideals of honesty and fair gain. Folks, there are things going on in the world that deserve a lot more of our attention. There are things happening in the world today that should make you very afraid about the future of our very existence as a nation free of terror and pestilence. It all starts at home.

[2 Timothy 3:1-9; 3:10-17] A lady from the city was visiting members of her family who owned a farm. As she talked with the farmer, she noticed a pig in the back yard with a wooden leg. “What happened to that pig?” the woman asked. “Oh, that’s Betsy” the farmer said. “She’s a fine pig! One night while we were all asleep the house caught fire. Betsy started snorting and grunting waking us all up. We were able to call the fire department and save the house!” “Wow! That’s amazing!” exclaimed the woman. “Not only that” continued the farmer, “but one day my daughter fell into the pond and Betsy came gruntin’ and snortin’ and led me to the pond where I was able to pull her out. Betsy saved my daughter’s life!” The lady was impressed, also curious, “But that still doesn’t explain the wooden leg.” “Well” the farmer replied, “When you have a pig like that, you don’t eat it all at once.” The moral and ethical decay of our society today is eating away at the very fabric of this country’s Christian garb. The first public school book of knowledge was the Bible. Today it’s illegal to shelve the Bible in our school libraries yet every other worldly religious organization has a reserved space in the card catalog. The do-gooders of this country have successfully performed a God-fearing lobotomy on our most recent generations and we are now being led around by a crippled government. God is still in the hearts of most Americans, but if we keep allowing the mutilation of His Word, before long there will be nothing left. Doom!