At what point may our squandering of God’s Grace become measurably definable as an abomination of His Will?  We tell them that we believe, yet our actions match those of people intent upon a road inconsistent with empirical demonstration of the opposite.  How then is a man resistant to obedience in response to the direction of a Sovereign Lord any thing other than someone who either never believed or somehow along the way walked away from established faith?  If I believe the stove will burn my flesh then I don’t touch it, if I believe that it will rain or become cold while I am outdoors I wear the appropriate attire, if I believe that demonstrating certain behavior or speaking a certain way will upset my colleagues or boss and possibly get me fired then I restrain my actions.  How then may I say that I believe that Christ saved me if I so quickly forget why He did so?

When this man died with Christ on that Cross of Calvary, what happened to his flesh?  Do I still wear that same flesh, do I remain adorned in the garments of a man that transpired two thousand years ago, or have I truly been born again, indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God, capable of becoming a new creature?  Must my mind remain fixated upon my soiled, rotten garments and the sin of my forgotten slavery?  Or am I truly free, living in Christ, with Christ and through Christ, doing the bidding of a Holy God as He prepares us for eternity?  What have I in common with aborting babies, killing the innocent, ignoring the poor, turning a blind eye while Christians and Jews are killed to suit the desires of the fallen?  What fight is worthy of my involvement?  Must I wait upon God to come in order for me to stand up and demonstrate my faith?  Do I have to stick my fingers in His side and touch the scarred hands and feet to fully comprehend the limits of my unbelief?  What will get me off this couch upon which I so comfortably sit in pride feeding my own aspirations?

I saw my country fall, not overnight, not quickly stumbling and bashing its knees upon the rocky pavement, but rather a slow, drowsy, slumbered, drunk pitch, face first, upon the Rock of the Lord Jesus Christ.  It lay in disrepair, failing to recognize its own dilemma, surrounded by ill wishers and departed friends, approaching unconsciousness, coma and eventual demise if not resuscitated and nursed back to health by the Hand of God.  Impossible you say for the chemical equation requires first humility, then prayer then repentance and turning away from sin, crying out to our Sovereign Lord for mercy.  You believe we are incapable of the same?  I disagree, for I have known the heart of these people, they may have forgotten these foundations, these essential items for blessed living in the heart of God’s Grace, but they will remember.  The true travesty is how much pain that we collectively must endure to bring us back to cognizance.  We will remember and the excruciating reality of that moment will near the pain that Israel will face when they nationally realize that they played a major role in denial of the Messiah’s arrival as He came to take away the sins of mankind.

But we are blessed in that we may have hope at all.  The hope provided by the Lord Jesus Christ upon that tree, up on the hill, in mockery and shame, bearing the weight of mankind’s transgressions.  He died for all of us, even those who have yet to come to the knowledge of the truth.  Will we demonstrate our faith and belief in His sacrifice by loving Him and them enough to tell them about Jesus?  I believe that we will, because God’s Word says that at some point there will be a great harvest of believers, having suffered greatly in the great day of the Lord, being refined by the pressure of the great wine press.  I wish and pray that it does not take us the pain it will most certainly require in order for us to humble ourselves and turn our hearts back to God, but alas that is outside of God’s will, so I ask for forgiveness for my disobedience Father.  I only ask for mercy upon us as we rapidly descend into utter disobedience.  May our hearts be awakened and humbled quickly by your Hand of discipline.  Your Will be done, on this Earth, even now as it is done in Heaven.  Deliver us from our own willingness to be tempted by our eyes, our pride and our flesh making us susceptible to the enemies deception.  Grant us peace.  In Jesus’ Name.