Have you ever been looking at something and tolerating it for so long that you don't even realize how bad it has gotten? Then someone points it out and like a smack in the face it occurs to you! Paul's description of the fallen world sounds a whole lot like our culture today in America doesn't it? Politics aside, the is no denying that we have some issues. Paul begins this passage by explaining that no person, regardless of when or where they live will have any excuse not to believe in God. We should be able to see God by just looking at creation. When my first son was born my entire faith was changed. The miracle of growing a child within my womb and giving birth was amazing! Within moments of coming into the world, God has placed in your child the instinct and ability to breath, eat and cling to his mother. Amazing! As he grows he watches and learns. As he watches me in a world full of sin and pain what will he learn? How do I react to the things God has called sinful? How do I treat those who sin? Am I the light and love of Jesus Christ in a fallen world that is blind?
Pray: Heaven Father, You have show us your glory every day from the moment that we wake until we lay down again to rest. Open my eyes to the things in my life that I have come to tolerate and accept as a normal part of life. Show me the areas in my life that I have replaced You with an idol - my smart phone, popularity, even my family. As I lead my family, give me wisdom and help me to discern what to do and say in difficult situations. Thank you for saving me and for always loving me not matter what.
God’s Anger at Sin {Romans 1:18-32, NLT}
But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.
Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools.And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.
So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.
Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.
No comments:
Post a Comment