Back in ancient times, when I was a boy, people selected proper ways of expressing even improper sentiments. Today the average brain defaults to four-letter words. I was told such language was the vain attempt of weak thinking to be expressed forcefully. I’ve never found evidence to prove otherwise.
Back when discourse was civil, one of the strongest expressions of disfavor was, “You make me sick.” Mild by today’s standards, God used it several times to make His point.
He warned Israel that if they practiced the same sins for which He judged Canaan, to beware, “lest the land vomit you out also when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before you.” (Lev 18:28) A thousand years later, that’s exactly what happened.
What God thundered at Sinai needs to be heard again across America. Our young people are reaping the grim harvest of spiritual neglect. We wanted them to be worldly-wise and popular and successful. We forgot about their souls.
I’m reminded of an incident in the life of evangelist Billy Graham. He had just finished a chapter for his book, World Aflame, describing the spreading scourge of sin in America. He asked his wife, Ruth, to review it. When she returned the document to him, she sighed, “Billy, if God doesn’t come soon and bring judgment on the US, He’ll have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah!”
The solutions are common sense. Kids need committed parents, need to finish their education and abstain from sex until marriage. We must invest the best, not the worst, in the next generation. What do we expect if their music is full of violence, promiscuity, and rebellion?
But people need much more than education and employment. That will buy them groceries, but the human heart isn’t content with steak and potatoes.
From childhood, they need to hear God’s Word and through it to meet Jesus as Savior and Lord. Are we, His church, hot with passion to preach the gospel, warn sinners, help the needy, and care for the fatherless and widows?
No, you say—not exactly hot. Then are we cold and careless and carnal? Well, we wouldn’t say that! So what’s in between really cold and really hot?
There it is again. Jesus says to us, “Because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.” (Revelation 3:16)
There’s a shocker! The opposite of lovingly serving God isn’t hating Him. It’s indifference.
But there IS hope! Of course, there’s a price to pay. “I counsel you to BUY from Me…” (v 18), says Jesus. To become a true Christian is free. But to BE a true Christian is expensive. Let’s go shopping.
First, we need our faith tested like “gold refined in the fire.” When was the last time you did a soul inventory? It’s pricey but can be very enriching.
Second, we must buy “white garments,” which, we’re told, are the wardrobe of those living right in a world gone wrong.
Third, we need heavenly “eye salve” to see things as Jesus sees them: the brevity of time, spiritual needs around us, the certain hope of heaven, and the riches of His grace.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if instead Jesus looked at us and said, “You make Me smile”?
Article by Jabe Nicholson first published in the Commercial Dispatch, Saturday, December 2, 2023