the things that friends do to you...


Spending time in the book of I or II Kings brings clear communication about how rare it is when people decide to follow God over the traditions of men.

So many of the kings of old conducted themselves in a more vile manner than the monarch before him. For some reason, it seems that if their father was a harsh leader, then they were worse. Each seemed to build on the other.

Then a surprise would come in a king who would seek after the heart of God. He would tear down the evil built in the empire before him. He would seek to be a 'good' leader, and to serve his people well.

He would usually be followed by a man who returned to evil. He would build idols and bring worship to those idols. Often in the process, he would kill off the family and friends of his predecessor.

The grab for power was on, and each tried to assure the stability of his throne by eliminating perceived threats.

Today, we like to believe we are more civilized. We generally would not think of killing someone to assure we got to do what we wanted to do.

However, we often seem to have embraced the downhill slide, deep into sinful endeavors.

We compare ourselves to those around us, and we do just a little bit more than they, thinking it no worse. We justify our actions or choices by what others have done or are doing. When we do this, we fail to recognize the superhighway of evil that we have merged onto.

Before we know it, we are doing more and more things that are contrary to the Word of God. The Word of God then, is no longer applicable for today. We view it in the context of our embrace of today's sin and find it outdated.

While we know this should not be, it is occurring around us with increasing momentum.

Our children are confronted earlier than we were with sex, drugs and alcohol. We were confronted with these same vices earlier than our parents.

I remember in the sixth grade my dad sitting me down and talking to me about sex. I had to do the same thing with my son in the third grade, because he was hearing so much on the bus or at school. I wasn't sure he was emotionally prepared to handle it, but knew he needed to be armed for the battle he was in. The Lord was present as he assimilated this information. He handled it well.

Many employ information immediately, thinking it to be power, rather than filtering their choices through common sense or Scripture. The result is the world we live in.

It should be no surprise to us that the Lord allows the "good ones" to be taken home early. Their example is magnified, and his glory multiplied through lives that are lived as He intended, amid a world that isn't.

We need to embrace the example of Christ, and not those we elevate to American idol status. We need to make Him famous, by living our lives as He did. Following His example in word and deed is what we are called to do.

When we do this, the lives of the "good ones," may seem less remarkable.

We have the opportunity to live this kind of life, today and everyday.

We just have to choose to do so.


dad