Let’s face it. Our society is
ingrained with the Santa Claus mentality. Give me. Give
me. Give me. It’s all
about “me” and what I want.
“Oh! I got a splinter in my
little hand. Maybe I could sue the US Forestry Service for having trees with
splinters.” Did I mention we are also “whiners?”
We are spoiled, self-centered
brats if every little thing doesn’t go our way. We’re like spoiled children
throwing a hissy fit on the floor.
We have more things and more opportunities in this country
than any nation of people that has ever existed, but we are never happy. We
always want more.
Bible scholars like to use
words like humanism, materialism and hedonism. I have used them myself. What do
they mean?
Humanism means basically
“love of self.”
Materialism means basically
“love of money (or things).”
Hedonism means basically
“love of pleasure.”
We in American are all these
things. The Holy Spirit must have had us in mind when He had the apostle Paul
write these words.
“But mark this: There will be
terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of
money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful,
unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal,
not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather
than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing
to do with such people. They are the kind who worm their way into homes and
gain control over gullible women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed
by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to come to a
knowledge of the truth.” (2 Timothy 3:1-7)
· Lovers of themselves
· Lovers of money
· Boastful
· Proud
· Abusive
· Disobedient to their parents
· Ungrateful
· Unholy
· Without love
· Unforgiving
· Slanderous
· Without self-control
· Brutal
· Not lovers of the good
· Treacherous
· Rash
· Conceited
· Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God
· Having a form of godliness but denying its power
· False prophets
· Full of sins
· Swayed by many evil desires
· Always learning but never coming to the truth
Paul described 23
descriptions of a self-righteous, corrupted people, and every single last one
of them is deadly accurate of 21st century Americans.
The worse thing parents can
do to their children is to spoil them. They become out-of-control brats with no
feelings for anyone but themselves. They think everyone else owes them a living
and obviously, no one is as important as they think they are. Those children
are now grown and living among us. We may be one of them.
In the last few months we
have had one major hurricane hit Texas, another hit the Caribbean and Florida
and now another has decimated the Caribbean again, especially Puerto Rico.
Mexico has suffered two major earthquakes during the same time. Many lives have
been lost and much property destroyed.
Every time a major
catastrophe happens most everyone is heard saying, “Our prayers are with them.”
How many really mean that? There is no doubt in my mind that many who love the
Lord Jesus have prayed for these dear folks that have suffered these tragedies,
and their prayers have been heard. Many are also actively helping in any way
they can, but how often is that phrase meaningless because it is used only as a
cliché? If it isn’t a cliché by most, are “our prayers with them” when there is
no tragedy? It appears to me that most tend to call upon God only when it is to
their convenience.
God doesn’t live in the North
Pole. He is in Heaven. He is not old Saint Nick. He is God Almighty. He doesn’t
ride in on a sleigh pulled by reindeer offering gifts wrapped tightly in a bow.
He has offered one gift to the world, the most precious gift that has or ever
will be offered, the gift of eternal life through His Son Jesus Christ. This is
the most expensive gift ever given. This gift cost His Son His own blood and
brought down the Father’s judgment on Him. He took all of our sins upon Himself
paying the penalty for them in full. Most of us however, have rejected that
gift, but expect Him to come at our beck and call and grant us anything we
ask.
We cannot, individually and
collectively, live in sin and expect God to bless us. I refer again to the
above Scripture verses in 2 Timothy 3:1-7. We so perfectly match every word
Paul said in these verses it’s scary. Friends, if we can read these verses and
not see the striking relationship to our own spiritual condition in this
country, we just aren’t paying attention.
God’s Word tells us:
“Do not be deceived: God
cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh,
from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from
the Spirit will reap eternal life.” (Galatians 6:7-8)
I have stated before and will
repeat again that I believe there is no longer any hope left for America to
avoid God’s judgment. Here’s the problem. All that affects us as a nation
affects us individually. However, the difference between American Christians
and those for example in the Middle East is this; they are used to hard times.
We are not. We are soft.
It would be like two young
boys joining the Marines. One faced many hard knocks while growing up and
became tough as shoe leather. The other was babied and pampered by his mommy.
Now who do you think will survive?
The pampered youngster is an
accurate picture of Americans in general. If the Lord delays His coming and
judgment falls upon us beforehand, there will be many anxious prayers going up
toward Heaven wanting their stockings refilled, but it will be too late. The
best years of this country are gone. We might as well face that, but here’s
another important truth. If Jesus Christ resides within us, it doesn’t matter
what is going on around us. Those who know Him will understand. Those who do
not know Him will think I’m being very foolish.
I would love to see our
country return to its grass roots of being a Christian nation once again. Can
that happen though when we think more of our things than we do Him; when we put self before Him; when we won’t
relinquish our sins; when we only give lip-service; when we treat God like a
Santa Claus, fairy godmother or magic lantern? No, and apparently, we are not
going to change.
Grant Phillips
Email: grantphillips@windstream.net
Pre-Rapture Commentary: http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com
Rapture Ready: http://www.raptureready.com/featured/phillips/phillips.html
