Life on our planet is never stagnant. Giant boulders are weathered into sand by wind, rain, streams, rivers, animals such as beavers, droughts, ice, and erosion. Forces of nature restructure mountains and canyons into new landforms.
Human housing developments, industry, oil drilling, dams, levees, and canals quickly change coastlines, riverbanks, wetlands, barrier islands, etc. However, this is not all that changes in our culture. Ideals, goals, motivation, worldviews, technology, beliefs, and attitudes change as well.
Today, we have many resources that we never even imagined, and they lead us to newer and more modern inventions, globalization, changed law and rights and freedoms, conflicts and disasters, increases in the crime rate, and a lethal lack of boundaries. There is a subculture that shares a lack of care for others and more of a focus on oneself. Food tastes and recipes evolved from country cooking to a fusion of cultural recipes and tastes.
Trains, planes, the telegraph and then telephones and the internet connected the world. Did we ever imagine that we would possess a whole computer, phone, camera, and video equipment in a tiny rectangle that fits in our pocket or purse? New styles, fads, fashions, time saving devices, architectural design, highways, advances in health care, our access to educational possibilities, etc. have all evolved.
Cultural traditions are no longer valued. Parenting skills went from authoritarian to permissiveness. Ethics that used to be written in stone are considered archaic, and people make up their ideals of behavior that fit their own needs and character. “If it feels good, do it” seems to be the standard now. Art, music, literature, and social media have also changed drastically.
Right is often considered wrong, and wrong is embraced as right. Marriage is traded for living together, gender is considered changeable, living on government handouts is preferable to having a job and finding some fulfillment in work well done. If God’s Word is read, it is considered as a novel rather than a mandate to keep us safely tucked on God’s straight and narrow road (Matthew 7:13-14).
Prayer:
Father God, if we will accept and comply with Your wisdom and truth, You save us from our self as a human race. Yet, we are still hurdling toward disastrous results of greed, selfishness, pride, and rebellion (1 Corinthians 1:18; 2 Corinthians 5:17, 3:18). Of course, there is a movement to save our planet. Homeowners and volunteers plant trees to stop erosion, farmers coral their herds and use manure as fertilizer. Natural fish habitats are turning into “fish farms.”
People also leave the tree lines bordering waterways to provide cool shade for birds and migratory fish populations. Companies spring up that restore land by adding rocks, fences, and logs to collect loose gravel and debris and build up areas to keep them from eroding. This provides habitats for fish, birds, and animals. These are all good things, but is it too little too late? Thank You, Lord, for a remnant of people who worship and serve You with our whole heart, because You are our true life (Colossians 3:3-4).
Thoughts for the Day:
God’s Word advises us not to allow this world to conform us to its changing culture, ideals, and worldviews. It also suggests that we long for its spiritual truths like newborns crave milk. Our mandates from our loving God are simple and character-building: to follow justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our Creator God.
- Romans 8:1-39, 12:1-21; Ephesians 2:1-2, 4:23-24; 1 Peter 2:2; Micah 6:8; Galatians 2:20
