Maineville Lighthouse Church

From the Cove…

       I was sitting here this morning, drinking my coffee and looking out at a scattering of snowflakes that shouldn’t really be falling after the warm spell we’ve had lately. We’ve certainly had a strange weather pattern over the last month… one week of record highs and the next back to freezing! Oh, the joy of living in Ohio! But now, the Easter season is upon us, and I’m looking forward to all that comes along with it…longer days, greening grass, budding flowers, new life, and a realization of the love of a Christ who was willing to go to the cross to save us.

       When I consider these things, I am increasingly saddened by the culture around me. How can you look at the beauty of this earth of ours and deny there is a God who created it? How can you see the miracle of a new baby and believe it’s acceptable to stop that miracle before it even takes its first breath? How can you gaze on the innocence of a child and corrupt it with teaching on sexual perversions and practices? How can you note the value of your fellow man and then do violence to him, especially the weak and elderly? None of these acts make any sense to me, and, yet, they all seem to be prevalent in today’s society! And not just today…but throughout the ages, starting with Adam.

       The Garden of Eden was surely the most perfect place anyone could ever imagine! God had prepared it as the home of his most beloved creation, mankind. The Bible tells us that Adam and Eve lived there, actually in the presence of God! It doesn’t tell us how long that perfect life existed before Satan crept in and brought sin along with him. When the “perfect” couple listened to Satan and disobeyed God, sin infiltrated mankind’s DNA. This is seen over and over throughout the Old Testament as we read of the unbelievable acts of cruelty of mankind.

       Recently, our Bible Study has been on “The God of the How and When.” Some of these lessons have addressed the early “heroes of the faith” and the tests and struggles they had to overcome in order to be used by God. These tests were not only challenges to be faithful to their beliefs but, also, to build their courage to stand against evil. I wonder, as I so often do, how things can change so much and yet remain the same. Has our world really changed in the ways that count?

       Even though our technology and education have brought us to heights those in the Old Testament would never have dreamed of, basic sin and evil still bring death and destruction to God’s people. Like those early “heroes,” we are faced with daily tests and challenges to remain true to our faith. And we, too, need to build our courage up to stand against the evil around us. Today’s world is more “civilized” and most of us will never be called to pick up our sword, but the evil around us still attacks us on many fronts. It’s up to us to recognize it and fight it in a “civilized” manner.

       In order to do that, we need to stay in God’s Word and then apply it to our daily lives. When we find ourselves appalled at the violence of the Old Testament, why is it so hard for us to see that same violence being played out in modern times? When we are shocked by the child sacrifice that took place in ancient times, why aren’t we equally shocked by the similar sacrifice of infants all around us on a daily basis? When we shake our heads at the decadent sexual practices of the pagan religions, why aren’t we trying to teach morals and values to our own young people? And when we can’t understand the hate exhibited toward people of other tribes in the Bible, why don’t we try to change that same tendency toward those “different” from us in our own neighborhoods?

       God is still calling for “heroes” to stand for the faith. Is He calling you? Are you listening?

Blessings,

 

Dona

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“…Act with courage, and may the LORD be with those who do well.”

2 nd Chronicles 19:11