Monday Thought – July 13, 2015

Good Morning Friends,

Just a brief look at the moral condition of our own country sends us into concern and depression.

The emphasis on sex is everywhere. It’s all over TV, all over movies, all over advertising, all over the Internet, it’s everywhere. On the Internet, more dollars of sales are made for pornographic material than any other category of sales!

There is violence all around us, especially in our larger cities. Terrorist threats, racial unrest, school killings, gang wars. Many people seem to view violence as an answer to their problems with other people.

Corporate greed, especially among those who are at the heights of corporate power, is common. Martha Stewart went to jail. Enron collapsed. Madoff was convicted. CEOs and CFOs now have to be compelled to sign for the accuracy of the financial statements of their corporations. They have to be forced to be honest because they don’t have the moral standards to make that choice on their own.

Don’t you wonder why people don’t just see the importance of doing what is right? Don’t you wonder why there isn’t something inside people that points them in the direction of right?

The first time Moses appeared before Pharaoh he brought a simple request, “Let us go hold a festival to the Lord in the desert.” They wanted to worship God and they asked for the permission of the king. Pharaoh’s answer is honest and direct and provides insight into why others disobey the clear instructions we have from the Lord.

“Pharaoh said, ‘Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and I will not let Israel go.’” (Exodus 5:2)

Pharaoh’s basic problem – he didn’t know the Lord. Since he didn’t know the Lord, there was no reason for him to do what God said was right!

Giving people moral guidelines or teaching them right and wrong and then expecting them to just follow the rules will never work. A morality imposed from the outside will never change a man’s life or the society in which he lives. The change has to start on the inside. Introduce a person to the Lord and his life will be forever changed.

His, by Grace,

Steve