The Devotional - 11

The Devotional

Comment:

Have you heard the slogan “If you see something, say something!” it is a sad statement at best since; as a nation we are “ignorantly” blind. By this I do not mean that we have no knowledge of living life, most citizens of our nation are “knowing people” they simply choose to be ignorant. This is a serious condition of national failure when the citizens of a nation look the other way or turn a deaf ear to community and national dangers and corruption. There is little hope for “justice and righteousness” to prevail and less hope to maintain a protective base of “liberty for all”! Now on this subject, it may be considered that all of these words sound like that old cliché “a broken record” that just keeps repeating nonsense words, but consider first the challenge below.  

Challenge:

Proverbs 24:30-34 – NKJV – I went by the field of the lazy man, And by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding; and there it was, all overgrown with thorns; Its surface was covered with nettles; Its stone wall was broken down. When I saw it, I considered it well; I looked on it and received instruction: A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest; So shall your poverty come like a prowler, And your need like an armed man.

Proverbs 24:30-34 – NIV – I went past the field of the sluggard, past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgment; thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins. I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw: A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest-- and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.

Here is the rub! The use of these verses in Proverbs to identify the sloppy awareness of this nation’s citizens identifies at least two important thoughts to consider.

(1)   Our national power is but a whisper of what it is capable of. Our national heritage has been stuffed in the attic and our children are taught to be haters of God and disobedient to parents. We are not becoming a nation of idolatry, we are a nation of idol worshippers. We are unloving, unforgiving and malicious. We do this under the blind guide of “humanism.

(2)   If you do take the moment as Solomon suggests in this portion of Proverbs, if you do apply your heart you will see all you need to see. You will learn a lesson, in other words you will see needed instruction. As a nation we the people have fallen asleep. We are as a nation in a restless sleep, yet we act as though all is well. We fold our hands and dream, alarming dreams that should cause us to “wake up”!

The prowler is not at the door, he is standing in our living room and you do not hear the barking dog. The words of Proverbs in this section is the real story of a failing nation. Not because of government corruption or take over, but because the citizens are occupants of “armchair” laziness. As a nation we the people need to turn our way back to God and stop denying the resurrection of Jesus Christ who is God incarnate, who died and rose again for all sin. John 1:29.