Week 3 - Friday

Abandoned by God

Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. (Romans 1:24-25)

Therefore refers back to the reasons for God's wrath that Paul already gave in verses 19-23. Because God revealed Himself to man (v. 19-20) and man refused to honor God (v. 21), because man theorized God away (v. 22), and made up his own gods (v. 23); God has allowed man to go his own way. God removed His restraining influence and gave them over to suffer the consequences of their own sinfulness. When a person's rejection of God reaches a certain point, they themselves are abanadoned by God. The heart of man is deceitful and wicked (Jer. 17:9). People need the power of God to change that. When they reject God and are abandoned by Him, the only thing they have left to follow is the lusts of their hearts to impurity. We see this in our own nation today. As people have gradually moved away from trusting and obeying God it has resulted in a dramatic increase in things such as divorce, children born out of wedlock, abortion, drug use, and violent crime. Not only have crime statistics increased in the last half of this century but law enforcement personnel will tell you that a lot of things that used to be reported as crimes, aren't getting reported anymore. Our police departments are so busy facing a growing number of more serious crimes, that the lesser ones get ignored because they don't have time to deal with them. America's moral convictions have become so weak that we re-elected by a wide margin a president that many believed to be an adulterer, a draft dodger, and dishonest in business. People said they didn't really care about the moral issues. Things were going pretty good for them right now and that was what mattered to them. Where are the godly leaders? Where are the godly people? Unfortunately they are on the decline and consequently our nation's moral character is too.

Man was not created to live in sin. Man was created to glorify God. When people reject God and continue to sin, their bodies are dishonored. They become worthless for the purpose they were created for, which is to glorify God. God has revealed the truth about Himself to man, but unfortunately many people have exchanged the truth of God for a lie. Don't believe the world's lies. Believe the truth and be saved. Don't worship false gods or idols. Put your faith in Christ, worship Him, and then glorify God by obeying Him.

Readings for today: Ps. 81:11-12; Jer. 13:25-26; 1 Cor. 6:13; 2 Thes. 2:10; 1 John 5:20-21