A Devotional Thought From Proverbs

At the end of Proverbs 16 verse 6, Solomon, the wise, makes this great statement, by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.

This is true. It has always been true. It will never cease to be true. When men and women, boys and girls, revere God, and honor God, and lovingly fear him as a little child does his or her father, they will depart from evil. When they fear him, when they know him, they will think the LORD would not want me to do this or that or the other sinful thing, and they will depart from the evil. They will go away from it. They will stop doing evil.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if leaders of nations, and political parties, and religions, and street criminals would all begin to fear the LORD. If they did national policies would be for the good of all people, politics would be clean and decent, religion would be loving and Bible-based, criminals would turn from crime and give up their guns and other weapons, and streets would not run with blood and tears.

None of these things, unlikely as they are, can’t happen. If people start fearing and trusting the one eternal God of the universe, their hearts can be changed and the individual evil deeds will disappear. If people around the world en masse were to fear the Lord, the world would have an unprecedented period of peace and prosperity, but it takes departing from evil by fearing the Lord.

Consider what God said in Isaiah 1:18; Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

Your sins that are blood red will be cleansed by the blood shed by the Savior of the world, Jesus. So if you want to personally help renew the world fear of God and depart from evil.

Another Thought From The Psalms

He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground; A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein. Psalm 107:33.34

These two verses speak of both the power of God, and the judgment of God. If he desires he can turn a beautiful, verdant, pastureland fed by a vibrant flowing river into a wilderness; a lush and pleasant, productive, flood plain into a desert. What follows is a natural result of the dryness. He can turn a fruitful land into barrenness, producing famine and the terrible things that come with it.

A natural question coming from such a statement is, why would God do such a thing? Why would he put the inhabitants of such a land into such a time of distress?

The answer concludes the two verses, “for the wickedness of them that dwell there.” Because the people who live in the land are doing things that are wicked. Wickedness perpetrated by the populace can put a nation at risk for losing its blessings.

This nation, America, has been a blessed, bountiful land, well- watered, and fruitful, in so many ways most of its storied history. She still is, but it is a land where wickedness is prevalent. Depending on one’s political views various list of what wicked things are among us could be made, and publicized and argued, in most cases without changing anyone’s mind, but there is one wickedness that should be agreed upon, and rejected, by all Americans.

It is wrong to kill viable pre-born babies, and  babies who have been born, some even surviving terrible abortion procedures. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist, or pro-life activist, to know that some things are wicked. Abortion and infanticide are. Some things are just wrong.

So here’s the thought question. Is our nation risking God’s judgment because of our destruction of babies? If He expresses his feelings about this pre-born and after born infanticide will our fruitful land face barrenness?