Words of Warning

     “I’m warning you!  One more time and I’m coming down there!”

     That’s how parents talk when children fight or misbehave.  Why?  Because there comes a time when parents can’t put up with disobedience any longer.

     The Bible says that God loves us.  And that he is forgiving.  But it also says there comes a time when he says, “Enough!”

     That point came in the first book of the Bible, Genesis. It says, “The earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence…So God said to Noah, ‘I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them.  I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.’”

     God hates violence.  So he used a worldwide flood to create a fresh start with Noah.

     Later God gave Moses a moral code (the Ten Commandments).  Then he sent Jesus to make it possible for us to have new hearts - hearts that want to obey God.

     The Bible challenges us to “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.” It tells us “Now is the day of salvation.”  But only a few listen to the Heavenly Father.

     Meanwhile violent stories once again fill the news.  There are reports of murder and abuse.  Even small towns have their share of violence.  Ask the school principals and police chiefs.

     Violence seems to be everywhere.  Neither atheistic nor religious countries are exempt.

     Our entertainment is full of violence.  Most TV dramas focus on murders.  By the time we’re adults we’ve seen so much violence that we’re numb to it.

     Violent video games and movies are defended as entertainment.  Sporting events turn into brawls when tempers flair.  Parents, athletes and fans alike come out swinging.

     Even though God gave humanity a fresh start after Noah’s flood, violence is in our nature.  And a day of reckoning is coming.  Again.

     According to the Bible, God gave the rainbow after the flood as a sign he would never destroy the earth again with water.  But the Bible also warns us “the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.”

     God’s advice?  “Since everything will be destroyed this way, what kind of people ought you to be?  You ought to live holy and godly lives…. Our Lord’s patience means salvation.”

     “Well, hold on just a minute!” you say. “What’s all this talk of judgment?  Isn’t God patient?”

     Yes, God is patient.  “He is patient with you not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.”  But his patience has a limit.

     We now have judges in America that disdain and reject the Judeo-Christian foundations of our civilization.  People who believe and practice the morality of our country’s founders are called bigots, haters and worse.  What happened to our sense of shame?

     If Thomas Jefferson and George Washington were to return today, would they recognize the nation they founded?  They might demand to know what we did with it!

     I wonder how close God is to saying, “I’m warning you!  One more time and I’m coming down there!”  It might be sooner than we think.

     At one time America was the envy of the world.  God blessed America.  But no more.

     The solution?  “Return to me, declares the Lord Almighty, and I will return to you…Turn from your evil ways and your evil practices.”

     We see the sickness.  We hear the warning.  Will we take the ‘medicine’? That’s the question.

     Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul!