I am sure you are aware that this is an election year! Anyone who reads the paper or watches television knows that there is a lot going on in politics. We hear a lot about the “left wing” and the “right wing.” Both parties think they are the favorite.
You may be surprised to discover that neither is right. Neither is perfect. Neither have all the answers. Neither is going to change things overnight.
Both parties are made up of humans with personal agendas, and neither is looking to a higher power for guidance. There is a lot of “I” and very little of “we, if it is God’s will.”
In Joshua chapter 1, Moses, the leader of the Israelite nation, had just died. God’s choice for his replacement was Joshua. This man was one of the two spies that returned from the land of Canaan with the news that they could indeed take the land. He and Caleb were the only ones out of 12 spies that wanted to take the land.
God expressed His confidence in Joshua; and then He gave Joshua these instructions. “Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you have good success wherever you go” (Joshua 1:6-7). From this passage we learn that neither the right nor the left is the place to be.
There is a straight, narrow way that leads to eternal life; while the broad way leads to destruction, Matthew 7:13-14. All you have to do is take a look at our society, and you will see that we have gone far to left and are traveling on the broad way.
Remember Israel? God told Solomon, “And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days” (I Kings 3:14). God was angry with Solomon when his heart turned against God (I Kings 11:9), and God took away the kingdom from him.
This began a long and painful destructive existence for the Israelites. They lost many battles, were taken into captivity, and eventually lost their place as God’s chosen people.
What caused the destruction of God’s people? They worshipped other gods, and they lost all sense of morality. They followed what they wanted, not what God wanted. Does that not sound a lot like the attitude today?
Remember the words of Isaiah, the prophet, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9). We would do well to remember that.
Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” No matter what anyone says, there is only one way to eternal life, the straight and narrow way through Jesus Christ. That doesn’t mean living like we want; it means living like God told Joshua, Solomon, every king of Israel and Judah, as well as instructing us through the scriptures.
In the New Testament, the Corinthians had some difficulties with social and moral issues. Paul was very plain in his rebuking of their lifestyle in chapters 2 and 5. He corrected, instructed, and then told them in chapter 16, “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, Knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (16:78).
At the end of his letter he warned them “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong” (I Corinthians 16:13).
There is a scripture that I have printed in my Bible class. It is in a prominent place over my whiteboard; and it says, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Psalm 119:11).
I think what we have failed to do is read, study, and obey the words of scripture. “I want” means more than “God wants me to do…” Sadly we are following down a destructive path.
So, as I write this article on Memorial Day, I say to those of you who read this, “Be strong and very courageous.” “Stand up for the truth.” “Stand up for what is the straight and narrow way.” It won’t be popular. It won’t be politically correct, but it will lead to eternal life.
Sandra Oliver