Why Be Vigilant?

The  news is horrible.  People are filled with hate and violence.  Killing each other for what they believe is a worthy cause.  It isn’t just happening now.  Violence has been part of the human condition since Cain killed Abel.  Now we come face to face with the hate and murders while watching any news report.  We have almost become desensitized to the beatings and the stone throwing.

I think of the Roman coliseums where the gladiators fought to the death and Christians were tortured.  This was part of the culture of the day.  Are we too facing violence and hatred with indifference?

We are living in perilous times.  “Pay more attention to what we have heard (from God) so that we do not drift away.”(Hebrews 2:1)  The Bible warns us about this very thing.  Then as now we forget where we are “anchored.”  Drifting away can occur slowly.  Perhaps some disappointment or tragedy in our life has “cut the anchor” of our faith.

C.S. Lewis once wrote.  “The safest road to hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot without sudden turning, without milestones, without signpost. “  I might add that our indifference to violence leads us down the same path.

Spiritual danger is just as real as physical danger. It just isn’t as easily seen.  The danger today is “go with the flow,” to become numb, to drift away and to die inside to the tragedies surrounding us..  We need to awaken to the truth of reality.  God is still in control.  He will call for the judgment of all mankind.  He will be returning again.  There will be a day of reckoning.  There are blessings and curses throughout the scriptures.

Each day we must reaffirm our commitment. When Jesus asked the lawyer “What is the greatest commandment?” the lawyer answered him….. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”  And he(Jesus) said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live”  (Luke 10:27-28}

Loving one’s neighbor is not just an afterthought…but a commandment.  Difficult? Yes!  Impossible? No!  Jesus never asked for the impossible from his disciples, and no more from us.

“And may the love of the Lord be upon you, even as you put your hope in Him. (Ps. 33:22)