Leaving God behind for What?

Proverbs 15 select verses

“The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.” (Proverbs 15:3)  The best of commentaries are the Scriptures, so go with me to Psalm 139:7-12, “Where shall I go from your Spirit?  Or where shall I flee from your presence?  If I ascend to heaven, you are there!  If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!  If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.  If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.”  We also have this from Jeremiah 23:23-24, “Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? ²⁴ Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? Declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? Declares the Lord.”

Many a person needs to ponder on these verses, yes Heaven and Hell are real places, but one should give thought to this fact, Jesus talks more about hell than He did about heaven.  You have never gotten by with anything, but God has placed the cross, and it is a stumbling block to many but salvation to any who will receive the gift of redemption.   My prayer is that you will come to an understanding that all have sinned and fallen short, we have no claim to God’s love, it cannot be earned, nor is it deserved, it is His love gift to all who come with a broken and contrite heart of repentance.  He longs to forgive each of us!  Neither is it based on wealth, status, or performance; it is grace through the faith God will give to anyone asking.

Proverbs 15:5-6, “A fool despises his father's instruction, but whoever heeds reproof is prudent.  ⁶ In the house of the righteous there is much treasure, but trouble befalls the income of the wicked.”

What happens to a generation of fools?  The latest studies show the millennial would rather be under a socialist type of government than a capitalist.  My sincerest hope is this is not true, and some say about 7 percent would choose communism over the freedom of the United States of America, what has happened?

How did we get to this point, let me share a few thoughts that might give insight to the problem?  Everyone wants to blame the liberal professors, and they may contribute to the problem, but they are not the reason.  Others may blame the education system, and they also may have been a small part of this puzzle, but not the cause.

So who is to blame, it must be the government or the greed of politicians, they play a role, but the root cause is not too much materialism or technology, no it is much more profound.

We the people of the United States of America have grown foolish, we have fashioned God into our mold, and have not bowed our wills to His.  So He has allowed us to go the way of Sodom and Gomorrah and it has been our choice, but a wise man would read how that comes out in the book of Genesis and if I recall it was not good.

Dads are the primary the blame and it matter, not the nationality. The Black family was one of the strongest, they went to Church and watched over and gave guldens to their children and yet where are the Black men today?  Many are the breeder but not a leader of their home, they have chosen the way of foolishness leaving sons and daughters without direction.  What about the white men, are they better dads?  Some are, but many have sold out to materialism, ignoring the ways of God for what they foolishly believe is a better way.

Mothers have chosen to farm out the kids to daycare so that they can have a career and freedom of expression.  Also, let us not forget sports; especially select sports that keep you and your children out of Church and from learning the ways of God.  How foolish of me to talk this way, I must not understand, we mom’s and dads are investing in giving them a better life, one we would have wanted.  And the mom and dad said in their heart; I would move my place at the same level as God.  No, that is what the devil or thief as Jesus called him said, you know the one that came to kill, steal and destroy.

Why anyone would give up the freedom to be free to choose is beyond my understanding.  But I am so grateful to God for loving me and putting me in a home with parents that believed the Bible, and we never had much of this world’s stuff, we were taught to work hard, to save some of our paychecks and to give God a tenth of all He had blessed us with.  Those were the roots of my small success, fear God, love people and forgive as you have been forgiven.

Every day I give thanks for being born in this great land of freedom and opportunity!

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice