As I look around the world, it seems to be running amuck. People are being beheaded on a daily basis. Girls are being stolen from homes and sold for sex. Just last week, people who were in a refugee boat headed to Europe were thrown overboard and drowned because of their faith. A few weeks ago a man was burned alive in a cage and videotaped. A court case is going on right now for one of the Boston Marathon Bombers. The man on trial is seen on a video placing a backpack full of explosives in a crowd of people next to children. It is not uncommon to turn on the television and hear of a suicide bomber going into a public place and detonating a bomb. It is sickening. But not only is this depravity “over there”, it is in your own town or city where you live or maybe even in your own home. When is the last time you heard of a child being molested? Unfortunately, it probably hasn’t been too long. In big cities around the country, it is not uncommon to have a murder a day. A riot is currently happening in a major American city because a man died in police custody. Depravity is indeed alive and well, and everywhere. I really can’t think about any of these stories for long because it just makes me feel sick.
However, we need to start thinking, or more importantly asking, “What does God want me to do?” What does God want the Body of Christ around the world to do? Are we seeking His Face for our towns, our cities, our states, our country, and our world? To be honest, I am not sure if we are even close to God’s mark on this one. I know I am missing it! Sometimes I pray about some of these situations, but, truthfully, I just try not to think about it or just go about my own business. Even now, I am typing this devotion in an air-conditioned business in a rural town in the United States. God has blessed me beyond my wildest imagination. I, like most Americans, are richer than 90-99 percent of the world. Nevertheless, how often do I complain because of things I don’t have? Just this week, there was a severe earthquake in Nepal. Thousands of people have died. Thousands of other people are now without homes. The infrastructure of Nepal is a wreck. Our world is indeed in chaos. What do we do?
Back to depravity – we are all depraved. God tells us in His Word that there is no one who is good, not even one (cf. Romans 3)! I truly believe, and have told you this before, that apart from Jesus Christ working in my life, I am capable of doing the most depraved things. We all are! So, first, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you (and I) should fall prostrate and thank God for sending Jesus Christ. It is only because of Jesus that our old nature was crucified and that great propensity to sin we had from inheriting Adam’s sin nature was dealt a great blow. God gives each believer a new nature. He put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance (cf. Ephesians 1:13-14). However, as we look around, our world is broken! Ever since Adam ate a piece of fruit that God had forbidden, the world has been in chaos. Depravity was set into motion as all men (and women) inherited Adam’s sin nature and that great predisposition to sin. Only faith in Jesus Christ can deal with your old nature and that great susceptibility we have toward sin. As I think about this fact and the depravity that is in the world, my mind goes back to a prayer that Jesus taught his disciples in the famous sermon referred to as the “The Sermon on the Mount”. Let’s read a piece of that sermon found in Matthew 6:9b-13:
Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Yes, we must constantly give God his due! We need to lift His Name up and give Him the reign of our lives. The only thing that will truly break the chaos on earth is when His Kingdom does finally come and His Will becomes complete. But in the present, Jesus told his disciples (and us) to pray for our daily bread. Notice, it says our “daily” bread. Our life in Christ should always be lived in the moment. As Christ forgives us, we should also forgive others who have sinned against us! And then Jesus finishes this prayer by saying “And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” It is only God who can deliver us from all this evil around us. Let’s continually go to Him. Let’s seek His Face for our homes, our towns, our cities, our states, our nation, and our world. May He deliver us from evil! See you next week in Galatians.