Living As Lights In a World of Distrust and Evil
In this nation we love, evil is personified on television before
our eyes. From colorful bad guys with a yearning for wickedness
to the real life dramas of serial killers, this evil saturates
our lifestyles. Daily we also see on headline news, stories that
bring bad tidings. Murder, violence, kidnappings, hurricanes,
tornado's, war, famine, plagues, and more are the menu around
the clock. This diet of mayhem comes from the high avenues of
New York a famed Times Square news bureau, to the hallowed halls
of most internet surfers, news is in. We get a lot of it.
As a result, people have learned to be distrustful. Gone are the
days when kids would respect their elders. Now they are fearful,
distrustful, and even spiteful toward other adults. Many kids
are raised to "not talk to strangers", being taught these
strangers are axe murderers, kidnappers, and molesters. The
problem however, there are those bad guys in the mix, evil men
that will harm innocents. The sad thing is, many young kids miss
out on knowing other adults who simply love kids and want to
help them. As a result, adults today don't even pay attention to
kids. They leave that to their parents; unless, of course
something happens to bring them to the point of getting involved
with the kids, say an accident or something.
Even women today, sparked by more rapes and murders of females
than ever before are keeping an eye out for those bad people. As
a man, I know a woman who is fearful a block away. For those
women, seeing a man, especially when a crowd is not around
brings total fear. They advance to the other side of the street
way before they would pass by any man on the same sidewalk,
supposing that the man would throw the woman down in broad
daylight and rape her. The problem, again, is not all men are
rapists and murderers. Many have wives and daughters. Many have
not been unfaithful to their spouses. In one incident on a
street, I saw a young woman approach me. She smiled and said in
nice friendly voice, "How are you today"? I was shocked, but
smiled back and said, "Fine, how about you"? We passed by each
other and went our separate ways.
In another part of the country we find the secular humanists,
nihilists, and the like, according to author Mark Ames of
nypress.com, an alternative newspaper. His distrust is of
conservative Christians. He looks upon them as having an evil
agenda, per say. Mark speaking of the agenda of conservative
Christians and their belief of end time events says "Currently
65 million American cultists are using everything in their
power, from prayer to politics, to make this Helter Skelter
scenario come true." Speaking of Christians as cultists, Mark is
viewing with distrust of a certain segment of society. That part
of society is the part, I personally follow. Even though, my
doctrinal views may differ from other conservative believers,
Mark has lumped us all together.
As we walk the narrow corridor of life, it contains many
pitfalls. The major pitfall here for the believer is how to be a
"light" shining in the darkness. Jesus spoke to us in Mathew
chapter five, verse sixteen saying "Let your light so shine
before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your
Father which is in heaven." As a follower of Christ, I am to let
my light shine. That means, letting the love of Christ flow
through me to those around me. Paul was commissioned by Jesus
Christ on the road to Damascus in Acts chapter twenty six and
verse eighteen being told "To open their eyes, and to turn them
from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God,
that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among
them which are sanctified by faith that is in me." This verse
reveals to us that there is a power of light and a power of
darkness. This darkness is equated to the power of Satan. It is
in the grip of Satan that people in this world find themselves.
It is a grip that doesn't want the individual to find
forgiveness of sins or be sanctified by faith in Jesus Christ.
So begins the battle. One side is in darkness the other in
light.
It is here that the "love quotient" needs to be inserted. In
John chapter three verse sixteen it says "for God so loved the
world that he gave". Yes, God so loved, he gave His only Son on
the cross. But in John chapter three verse eighteen it says that
"He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that
believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed
in the name of the only begotten Son of God." The word believe
here in the Greek, means to trust in, rely on, and cling too.
This is like a life preserver in the ocean and you're adrift
without one, until you see the life saving preserver. You have
to cling to it to be saved. On the reverse course, the words
"believeth not" mean that person stands condemned and guilty
before God. Further, John in chapter three, verse nineteen says
that this condemnation means that "light is come into the world,
and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds
were evil." John explains further in verse twenty that "every
one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the
light, lest his deeds should be reproved." Thus, we find the
"love quotient" here in the world. You must accept this "love
quotient", which is Jesus Christ; believe on Him, to stand
guiltless and not condemned. For many in the world, however,
their love of evil things separates them from this. They simply
do not want to give up those things they do.
So the battle is raging today. On the one side, people that
think everyone on the conservative side, people that believe in
the "saving of the soul" found in Hebrews 10:39 form a religious
cult. Jesus warned us in John chapter fifteen and verse eighteen
"If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated
you." Yet, as believers, we are as it says in Matthew chapter
five, verse forty four saying "Love your enemies, bless them
that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them
which despitefully use you, and persecute you." By doing this,
Love conquers hate and unbelief. A lawyer asked Jesus what were
the greatest commandments. Our Lord replied in Matthew chapter
twenty two, verses thirty seven to forty saying "Jesus said unto
him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and
with all thy soul, and with thy entire mind. This is the first
and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou
shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments
hang all the law and the prophets.
To love thy neighbor, this fulfills the law. This love propels
the believer to testify what God has done for him through Jesus
Christ. This love means the Christian stands for light and what
it is. This love brings the believer to give his life to share
the gospel. For the world, it means, the believer will not give
up or shut up. For the world, it means, there is only one way to
salvation. That is, through the Lord Jesus Christ. For those who
tire of hearing the good news or about the need to be saved, it
won't stop. That is our calling to love, to share, to bring the
good news of salvation to every person.
In the end, there will be those who will hate the message and
the messenger. But, there will always be those who needed to
hear the message. This message speaks of a loving savior who
says "come unto me, all ye who are weak and heavy laden. Take my
yoke upon you, for my yoke is light." There are those who even
in this tossed and turbulent world, even up hearing a message of
love, will hate and despise those who are bringing it to them.
For those who follow the Lord, let us not forget the "love
quotient" amidst a perilous world and tough times. For as Jude
said in verses twenty one to twenty three "Keep yourselves in
the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ
unto eternal life. And of some have compassion, making a
difference: And others save with fear, pulling them out of the
fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh."