What Next?

Psalm 119:152 - Long ago I learned from Your statutes that You established them to last forever.

I don’t know if this made big news or not. I heard about this yesterday morning. It's another idea that our God, who created the heavens, the earth and man, can be put into that proverbial "box." That somehow if there is a way to remove Him from all public buildings or parks or government that He really will be removed. Let me just say that those who attempt to do this will meet with strong judgment some day...and will know they failed.

What in the world am I talking about, you ask? The federal judge in Giles County, Virginia, who is working to modify “offensiveness” of a display of the Ten Commandments at the Narrows High School, Narrows, Virginia, by reducing the Commandments to six, removing the first four, because a student was offended. Come on people.

Well, that hit a big, fat nerve in me! As it seems to have hit nerves among the students at the school as well. The first four Commandments are the foundation of the others, just like God is to be the foundation of our lives. They are first because they are the most important of all Commandments. Removing these four is a slap in the face of our God. It is another display of rejection toward Him. But then, this is a sign of the times.  The Apostle Paul warned Timothy: But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God... always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. (2Timothy 3:1-4, 7)

This world is changing; this country is changing. It’s becoming easier to push God aside for the sake of tolerance. Those who reject Him will be judged…and condemned. But Jesus did not come to condemn; that condemnation, as I see it, is put upon a person by his own rejection of the things of God…including the intolerance of Christianity disguised as tolerance of religion.

There are many who say there is a God but still do not believe all that the Bible claims. Yes, Jesus does love us; but He also will judge if we do not return that love, if we decide to make of Him what we want Him to be...we want being the key words. Jesus will return some day and those willing to follow Him, to receive Him into their lives, to live a life for Christ, will be saved. 

So this judge is asking if the Ten Commandments could be reduced to six to eliminate the offense the first four are for some. This is yet another form of watering down the truth of the Gospel. We cannot pick and choose which scriptures we want to believe or live by. We must accept them all.

Let's see. What might the first four commandments say? Remember, they are the foundation of His law. Above all things, He is the LORD our God and:

1 - You shall have no other gods before Me.

2 - You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God...

3 - You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.

4 - Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Removing the first four Commandments remove the mention of God, clearly the one who wrote the commandments in the first place. What is left after those Commandments are gone are commands we all agree should be adhered to anyway. But removing God's name...isn't that a little like putting other gods before Him?

Yes, He is a jealous God. He longs for our devotion that He might bless us with spiritual blessings, the necessities of a good life in Christ, the hope of a future so unbelievable we cannot comprehend it, we cannot put words or images to what it will be like.

Ah, but this is what the world is coming to. It reminds me of the Great Flood. The people were repeatedly warned by Noah that the flood was coming but the people heeded him not. What flood? They'd never known a flood; couldn't comprehend what it was. This Noah was a crackpot. One day their lives were filled with frivolity, arrogance, disobedience to God, recklessness and love of pleasure. They had no need to believe Noah. And the next day...the flood took them out. An angry God? A jealous God. Jealous for our affection to Him. Jealous for our hearts and lives.

This story of the Flood is one we might want to heed today before God chooses to return and cradle those He calls His children against the disasters the world is setting itself up for.

Perhaps I might be called a crackpot. We'll see some day. I'd rather be seen as a crackpot today than one lost in the next disaster before Jesus returns. Yes, God despises His name being bandied about, removed, ignored, spat upon. His Word will stand the test of time no matter how hard people of misunderstanding and intolerance try to remove it. Praise our God! 

Luke 21:33 - Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.