Evening Thought…One Generation Away
I sat on the balcony of our condo watching the ocean come in and go out in beautiful rhythms. How many millennia has this happened, seemingly automatically, with no help from man? How many people through the ages played in the same waters and dug in that same sand with their children, trying to make sense of their life’s purpose and burning dreams?
How many have looked out over those same unceasing waves asking “how did we get to this place in this nation?” I don’t believe this is just a 21st century question, but plays on the minds of all who have lived long enough and watched enough pages of time turn to clearly see the differences. Differences such as classrooms that indoctrinate rather than educate our children. Differences such as churches approving and embracing actions Scripture clearly warns against. Differences such as senseless arguments over boys competing in girls sports and actually seeing this as equitable or fair. The shift happened seemingly overnight, yet paradoxically slow enough that many never noticed.
As I looked out over the pockets of people scattered across the beach, I saw an American flag planted in the sand just a few feet from the wave line and I thought of those who still love this nation and would stand up for what is right. I thought of people who love God and family and as some might say, those “good ole boys”, who would fight to the death.
But almost immediately, a counter thought flashed through my mind…”this nation is one generation away from destruction.” It only takes one generation of those who were not taught to honor and respect who we are as the greatest nation on earth and who would refuse to fight for this nation. One generation who were not taught that any nation is only as strong as its families and those intact families are the fabric of our great civilization. One generation that values personal convenience over the life of its newborns and personal pleasure over innate decency.
But it had to happen. As we look at the failed pathway of great civilizations that preceded us, we fail to realize that we were made great because we embraced the ultimate good, God Himself. We fail even today to realize that when we choose to forsake what is good, we forfeit the very thing that makes us great.
No nation was made great because it just happened to have great laws and government. A nation can only be great because it has good people who make those great laws and create a righteous government. It is made great when all people are recognized as created equal in the image of God and given the right and opportunity to become the person God intended, based on His standards and their hard work and accomplishments. Can such a place exist? It can exist only as long as the heart of its people stays on track with what is good and right.
Psalm 9:17 warns us that the wicked and the nations that forget God will be turned Into hell. However, a generation that has forsaken the importance of God’s word would not heed such a warning. It would seem foolish and binding to them. Is the dog chasing his own tail? Have we forsaken our source?
Strangely enough, the waves continue to keep rhythm, generation after generation, oblivious to all the drama on the earth. Written into the creation of the oceans’ pattern was a force greater than man’s choices of following or not following that which is right or good. Creation simply observes our choices.
I believe God is saying to us today the same that He said to Israel thousands of years ago. “Deuteronomy 30:19 Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!”
