Randy and I finally saw the movie “Top Gun.” Wasn’t it good!? When Randy and I dated, we would watch 80’s movies. They were always our favorite movies! So, when the new “Top Gun” came out we needed to go! As the movie was near ending, I remember thinking wow, this movie is pretty clean. I spoke too soon. Why did they have to throw all the language in at the end? It occurred to me, of course they needed too. If this was a PG movie (which the 80s movie, was) the movie just wouldn’t have done as well in theatres today. Why is that? If it was a PG movie, many adults would have said It can’t be that good. It’s a kid’s movie. Our world today is full of the love of sin and destruction. Let’s face it, Christians and non-Christians love sin. Sometimes it’s hard to tell the non-Christians from the Christians because they both seem to blend in our culture. The lines are not defined. Our world rallies a life that is full of destruction instead of a life that is fulfilling in the eyes of the Lord. Christians choose to support flags that are clearly defined in the Bible as dishonoring to our Creator. Churches are too afraid to teach about the wrongs of our culture or about worldview. They fear it will lead people away or cause division in the church. How will we bring more people into His kingdom or teach people to be righteous if we are too afraid to speak the truth and steer people towards pursuing God?
Isaiah 59 says,
Listen! The Lord’s arm is not too weak to save you,
nor is his ear too deaf to hear you call.
2 It’s your sins that have cut you off from God.
Because of your sins, he has turned away
and will not listen anymore.
3 Your hands are the hands of murderers,
and your fingers are filthy with sin.
Your lips are full of lies,
and your mouth spews corruption.
4 No one cares about being fair and honest.
The people’s lawsuits are based on lies.
They conceive evil deeds
and then give birth to sin.
5 They hatch deadly snakes
and weave spiders’ webs.
Whoever eats their eggs will die;
whoever cracks them will hatch a viper.
6 Their webs can’t be made into clothing,
and nothing they do is productive.
All their activity is filled with sin,
and violence is their trademark.
7 Their feet run to do evil,
and they rush to commit murder.
They think only about sinning.
Misery and destruction always follow them.
8 They don’t know where to find peace
or what it means to be just and good.
They have mapped out crooked roads,
and no one who follows them knows a moment’s peace.
9 So there is no justice among us,
and we know nothing about right living.
We look for light but find only darkness.
We look for bright skies but walk in gloom.
10 We grope like the blind along a wall,
feeling our way like people without eyes.
Even at brightest noontime,
we stumble as though it were dark.
Among the living,
we are like the dead.
11 We growl like hungry bears;
we moan like mournful doves.
We look for justice, but it never comes.
We look for rescue, but it is far away from us.
12 For our sins are piled up before God
and testify against us.
Yes, we know what sinners we are.
13 We know we have rebelled and have denied the Lord.
We have turned our backs on our God.
We know how unfair and oppressive we have been,
carefully planning our deceitful lies.
14 Our courts oppose the righteous,
and justice is nowhere to be found.
Truth stumbles in the streets,
and honesty has been outlawed.
15 Yes, truth is gone,
and anyone who renounces evil is attacked.
The Lord looked and was displeased
to find there was no justice.
16 He was amazed to see that no one intervened
to help the oppressed.
So he himself stepped in to save them with his strong arm,
and his justice sustained him.
17 He put on righteousness as his body armor
and placed the helmet of salvation on his head.
He clothed himself with a robe of vengeance
and wrapped himself in a cloak of divine passion.
18 He will repay his enemies for their evil deeds.
His fury will fall on his foes.
He will pay them back even to the ends of the earth.
19 In the west, people will respect the name of the Lord;
in the east, they will glorify him.
For he will come like a raging flood tide
driven by the breath of the Lord.[a]
20 “The Redeemer will come to Jerusalem
to buy back those in Israel
who have turned from their sins,”[b]
says the Lord.
21 “And this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit will not leave them, and neither will these words I have given you. They will be on your lips and on the lips of your children and your children’s children forever. I, the Lord, have spoken!
Isaiah said sin starts in people’s mind and then gives birth to action. The destroyer loves to disguise sin by twisting the truth, makes it shiny, fun, but the Lord says, it only leads to bondage and destruction. Isaiah used many different metaphors such “snakes” “webs”—nothing good comes from it. There will be a time of judgment and ALL people will be on their knees before our Father. God did give us good news! The Redeemer will come back and save the people from sins. We can’t have ignorance regarding God’s commandments or excuse ourselves over which laws to obey. God has made it very clear our world is full of destruction and evil, this is not our permanent home. We need to hurt at the sight of sin and move away from the love of it. Isaiah calls us to wake up and listen! To seek God’s truth and not the worlds. We can’t produce our own righteousness, but only through trusting in Christ’s sacrifice can we be made right with our Holy God. What is keeping you from seeing sin in your life? What are you pursuing or encouraging that is not biblical? Ask God to give you the eyes to see the things you are pursuing or believing that is more of the world, than of His Kingdom. Goodness, I pray each day about having eyes to see my own sin in my own life and if I am encouraging His Majesty or our culture!
“YOU CANNOT HAVE A GODLY COUNTRY UNTIL WE HAVE GODLY CITIZENS!” —–Daily walk Bible
