The LORD merely spoke,
and the heavens were created.
He breathed the word,
and all the stars were born.
He assigned the sea its boundaries
and locked the oceans in vast reservoirs.
Let the whole world fear the LORD,
and let everyone stand in awe of Him.
For when He spoke, the world began!
It appeared at His command.
Psalm 33:6-9 (NLT)
“Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.” 1 John 3:4 (NASB)
Sinners in Noah’s day finally provoked their own destruction in the great flood. The northern kingdom’s unfaithfulness ultimately resulted in its defeat and capture by Assyria. The southern kingdom rebelled against God and rejected His prophets, until judgment fell and the people were taken into exile by Babylon. These are examples of God’s law of sin and retribution at work. Disobedience is punished; evil empires fall; unrepentant sinners are condemned.
Will we learn from the record of those who through the centuries have rejected God’s absolutes and His ambassadors? Will our personal experience profit from the prophets? Are we wise enough to apply Christ’s teaching to our own relationship with Him?
As long as we believe in the power of the Holy Spirit, the power of the Word of God, and the power of prayer, we can still hope for a reversal of the present moral and spiritual decline. We serve a Christ who declared to His followers, “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). When we are most discouraged, we must keep on praying, evangelizing, and standing up for Christ and the principles of His Word.
“Our new life of following Jesus Christ may mean that we have to leave things behind, including those that don’t bring lasting satisfaction. What we once craved cannot compare with the life and “living water” that Jesus offers.” – Cindy Hess Kasper
