God is...

(from Time magazine)
This is the cover from the December 7, 2009 issue of Time Magazine.  The title pretty much says it all & you can likely guess what is detailed in the story.  From the Y2K scares that started the decade to terrorist attacks to wars to job losses to market crashes to housing bubble bursts to hurricane Katrina to Ponzi schemes to mass shooting in public places to major corporate bankruptcies, this was a decade that saw it all.  The average American, this story claims, is likely no better off than they were at the start of the decade.


"Sometimes it was as if the gods themselves were conspiring against this decade," the author of the article writes.  


And I would have to counter and say that it is very likely that the God was in complete control over the debacle of this decade.  Is it any coincidence (and you know what I think about coincidences) that this is also a decade that saw an increase of the acceptability of ungodly, worldy behavior in our country?  A decade that included immoral activities being labeled as "normal" or "alternative"? A decade where political correctness trumped Biblical correctness the majority of the time? A decade that saw the removal of God in our society in abundance?  I think it's no coincidence.


Hosea 7:13-16a
"What sorrow awaits those who have rebelled against me!  Let them die, for they have rebelled against me.  I wanted to redeem them, but they have told lies about me.  They do not cry out to me with sincere hearts.  Instead, they sit on their couches and wail.  They gather together, begging foreign gods for grain and  new wine and they turn away from me.  I trained them & made them strong, yet now they plot evil against me.  They look everywhere except to the Most High. They are as useless as a crooked bow."


God is a god of blessings and curses.  From Deuteronomy 11:26 "Look, today I am giving you the choice between a blessing and a curse!  You will be blessed if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today.  But you will be cursed if you reject the commands of the Lord your God and turn away from him and worship gods you have not known before."


It's time to turn around.  It's time to examine our own lives.  It's time to compare with the plumb line provided by God in the Word.  Does my life align with His commands?  Have I rejected His commands and turned away from Him to worship something else?  We cannot change a nation, until we change ourselves.   And we must pray for those in authority over our nation, whether we like them and their policies or not.  Today is the day to choose, a blessing or a curse?