Archived Devotion
Thursday // November 5 // 2009
The Bible describes a time in Israel's history when "everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (Judges 17:6). But I also think that is a good description of our time. Rather than living by a set of absolute standards like the Ten Commandments, many people are making up their own standards and using a sliding scale for morality, thinking they are at least better than the next person.
It reminds me of the prophet Isaiah's warning, "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" (Isaiah 5:20). That is where our culture is today. We mock what is good and pure, and we celebrate what is wicked and sinful. Good is called evil and evil is called good in our upside-down world.
That is why I think our generation could easily be called the iGeneration, because we think it is all about us. It is all about our getting what we want, when we want to get it. Now that we can get our information on demand, we don't want to be told what we can see or hear—or let others decide when we can hear and see it. We want what we want, and we want it when we want it. And many are taking the same approach to morality.
So how do we reach a culture like this? Answer: we reach it the same way Christians reached their culture 100 years ago and 300 years ago and 500 years ago and 2,000 years ago. We reach our culture with the authority and the message of God's Word, because that never changes, no matter what. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8).
It reminds me of the prophet Isaiah's warning, "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" (Isaiah 5:20). That is where our culture is today. We mock what is good and pure, and we celebrate what is wicked and sinful. Good is called evil and evil is called good in our upside-down world.
That is why I think our generation could easily be called the iGeneration, because we think it is all about us. It is all about our getting what we want, when we want to get it. Now that we can get our information on demand, we don't want to be told what we can see or hear—or let others decide when we can hear and see it. We want what we want, and we want it when we want it. And many are taking the same approach to morality.
So how do we reach a culture like this? Answer: we reach it the same way Christians reached their culture 100 years ago and 300 years ago and 500 years ago and 2,000 years ago. We reach our culture with the authority and the message of God's Word, because that never changes, no matter what. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8).
Copyright © 2009 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000
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While the first nine of the Ten Commandments deal with outward actions, the last commandment deals with an action of the heart: coveting. In fact, . . .
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