GOD GAVE THEM OVER

I have been a little uptight lately over the state of the souls in this country.  I am not evangelistically inclined and do not run the streets shouting that the wrath of God is I here (though maybe I should), so I have been hurting a little over how to help pull our feet out of the mud, without loosing our shoes in the process.  And then I think that loosing our shoes may not be all that bad, depending on what we are using our shoes for.  Are we using our shoes to separate ourselves from and walk away from the mud of this world or are we using them to feel more comfortable stepping right into that mud of the world around us?

Perhaps we all need to go back to Romans 1:18-32 and refresh ourselves over God’s view and God’s wrathful judgment of “giving them over” to the sins they so heartily seek after: (And by “them” I mean “us, Americans.”)  The picture is as graphic as any you have ever seen and is explicit about what God sees us doing and what God brings on because of what He sees. And for some reason, I am suddenly calmer when I understand that God has “given us over.”  It is not simply the “work of the devil” that we are fighting, it is the wrath of God Himself beginning the destruction of this once proud country.

The list is long and pointed and undeniably American as read from beginning to end.  Yes, it was intended for Rome about Rome, but Rome is only one proud country of distinguished world control that has followed in these same footsteps.  And America is not the only modern country doing so, either.  But it is America where I live, and America that I have loved and rooted for all these years so it is America that I am concerned about right now.  And it is the Christians in America that I am praying will see the truth about how much garbage we are really not only putting up with, but participating in and approving of these days.

“Although they knew [better] – although they claimed to be wise:

God gave them over… in the sinful desires their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.

God gave them over to their shameful lusts.

God… gave them over to a depraved mind.

And they “not only continue to do these very things, but also approve of those who practice them.” 

I do not want to beat a dead horse to death here, but how careful are we with our minds?  Really.  How careful are we.  Do we have any awareness in us of selecting what we listen to, watch, or read according to standards that we feel we need to follow.  Do we try to keep our shoes out of the mud or do we just jump right in because what we listen to, watch, or read is always the Next Big Thing in popularity?   

Do we live with any “filters” at all, especially if we do not have children in the room?  And, if we do have children in the room “up through finally married,” do we discuss with them how to filter their own selections or how to deal with things that surprise them; things they wish they had not seen or know that they should not have seen?

Personally, my major filter is sexual, or implied sexual behavior.  I am a single woman who has been married and the last thing I need is an enlivened libido.  And the not yet married do not need that either.  So I make choices based like this:  NCIS and CIS have been faithful to keep sexual behavior to a minimum and it mostly is seen briefly as the reason for the evil done and it is rewarded with wrath in the end.  I watch those. Chicago Fire, which I had hoped would be a good show, turned out to be all about the sex lives of the firemen (male or female).  I don’t watch it.  I also avoid (like the plague) all fictional “reality” shows because they are the very things that are the subjects of these lists in Romans.

Again, we all make our own choices.  I am not making my choices a list of choices you should make.  I am just saying that we all need a guideline in our heads as we make our choices so that we can be careful to not fill our minds with depravity.  And that goes for facebook as well.  I have come to realize that even the good side is depicting seriously unsubstantiated material about the “wrong” side and I have stopped looking at the majority of what comes my way. 

May we all be vigilant and ready to make choices for a sound mind.  And may we be diligent to pass these filters on to the next generation so that they too will be vigilant in protecting their own minds.  May we be careful to discuss the opportunity to make these choices as we live together with those we love and seek to help them follow God’s way, The Way, Jesus Christ.

Side note:  The real beauty of this country still exists and can be found on Sunday Morning and 60 Minutes, two of the oldest continuing programs on television and still reporting the people and places of this country from the heart rather than from the dollar value.  :)