Contributed by Columnist Sarah Hudson Pierce
As a wake-up call, I would like to point out how President Ronald Reagan quoted II Chronicles 7:14 in his 1981 Inaugural address when he said, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
It seems to me that affluence can deaden our hearts, lessening our dependence upon God? How long has it been since our nation really cared what God thinks about much of anything? If we don’t take a stand, what can we expect to happen to our country?
We want God to heal our land but let us continue down the same path, to allow us to maintain our lifestyles that we have grown accustomed to, but do we really want to humble ourselves, pray and seek His face and turn from our wicked ways?
We want to be blessed without really caring what God thinks about much of anything.
In light of all of this I must add that it doesn’t matter what I think because God’s Word doesn’t change even though we may have changed our opinion.
When I wake up in the night, to the roar of thunder, I think that maybe God is trying to say to us, “Hello, I am not asleep, I am still in control whether you know it or not.”
We may think “we are masters of our own fate, captains of our own destiny” but in the twinkling of an eye, our worlds can be torn apart whether by death, divorce, disaster, or loss of our homes.
No one is exempt. To think so is to be naive. Whatever has happened to another can just as easily happen to us.
If not, why not?
When we, as a nation, disregard what God says how can we continue being blessed? It may take a national disaster such as a depression or a pandemic to bring us to our knees.
It’s easy to look down on those less fortunate, especially the homeless, and say “they are homeless because they want to be homeless.” I have actually heard church members make that very comment while talking about homelessness.
The Bible still teaches that there are three categories of sins; the lust of eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life.
We can reach a point of no return. We tend to want what we want now, regardless of what God thinks, even if it means stealing from one’s own parents and in the same breath saying “The problem with our nation is people who don’t want to work,” not realizing that it’s easier to snatch from one’s parents than to manage our own finances trying to keep up with or maybe a step ahead of the Jones, whoever they are.
It’s easy to go bankrupt! Even the “rich” and famous do it!
When I was a child, in the backwoods of Arkansas, ministers preached a different message. There was right and wrong, no gray areas. As a ten-year-old child, I knew that this life is not forever.
That is so contrary to what we are being taught today. Now grace covers everything.
We may change our mind but God remains the same. This life is just too short to not go to heaven.
It is easy to be hardened, to turn a deaf ear, but eternity is just too long to miss being in the presence of God.
