The Reprobate Mind

One verse keeps coming into my mind lately. One WORD actually. Reprobate.

"And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting." - Romans 1:28

What exactly does 'reprobate' mean anyway? If we go through the various translations of the Bible, these are the synonyms we will find for 'reprobate': depraved, foolish thinking, debased, corrupt, worthless, useless, immoral, degraded, disapproved and utterly worthless. None of those sound very good. But they sound all too familiar.

Here's the official dictionary meaning of the word reprobate: an unprincipled or depraved person : scoundrel, rogue.

Not many pastors preach on Romans 1 these days. It's a hot potato in this politically correct, woke world that we live in. Well, I'm not going to preach on it either but I am going to use part of it today to make a point. Romans 1:30

"they invent ways of doing evil." - Romans 1:30

I believe that 'we the people' are guilty of this. We have invented new ways of doing evil. There apparently weren't enough deadly viruses in the world. Let's alter them and create deadlier version! They call that "gain of function". Sounds like LOSS of function to me. In our brains!!

I believe God is punishing us for our disobedience. Read through 1st and 2nd Chronicles sometime. The whole Old Testament for that matter. God has punished nations for their disobedience and turning their backs on God.

Will we ever repent of our sins as a nation? As a people? No, I don't think so. Some will, some already have. But the overall nation? Nope. Not unless God extends us mercy. But He has already done that through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus. He's waiting for us. God is patient! But not tolerant.

Not that I know what God is thinking, but it seems to me like it's about time for Him to rapture His church on outta here and let Satan have his way for the next seven years. God will increase His punishment on a world that has turned their backs on Him.

There is still hope though. Have you ever read the story of King Hezekiah? "He did what was good and right and faithful before the LORD his God" - 2nd Chronicles 31:20 And guess what happened as a result of all the reforms King Hezekiah put in place? Revival. Revival came to Judah.

Is it too late for revival in this country. Maybe. I don't have any idea. But God does. I think we should pray for that. Who's with me? But above all, we must pray for God's will to be done, even if this mess we are in right now IS His will.

The Eyes Of The Lord

Eye of God nebula

Are you willing to change who you are and the things that you do in order to please God? For the Christian, the answer is, "Yes, Lord. Thy will be done."

I was reading in 2nd Chronicles this past weekend about King Hezekiah. He changed his entire country to please God. What would something like that look like today, I wondered.

Well, many people in this country wouldn't be very pleased. If we did the same things Hezekiah, and all of the kings "who did what was right in the eyes of the Lord" did, what would that look like? Let's take a look at scripture and make a list.

2nd Chronicles 29 says that the temple doors were opened and fixed, the priests sanctified themselves and sacrifices were made to God. And the people rejoiced.

Well, that's a problem. We have no national temple of The Lord here. But we DO have places of worship. But, according to Hezekiah, all would have to be sanctified to The Lord. That would be a problem for those practicing Islam, Buddhism and any other false religion. Especially in light of 2 Chronicles 31.

"Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah and broke the sacred pillars in pieces, cut down the wooden images, and threw down the high places and the altars - from all Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh - until they had utterly destroyed them all." - 2 Chronicles 31:1

All of the mosques and other places of worship not devoted to the One True God would not only become shut down but torn down as well.

Other kings "who did what was right in the sight of the Lord" have done their best to shut down other religions. Banned! Their temples torn down or burned. And all their practices were terminated like the sacrificing of their children. Could you imagine the uproar in the media if our government suddenly shut down all other religious institutions and banned the practice of abortion?

Yet, dare I say it, wouldn't that be wonderful? There would be a mighty struggle to be sure but God would be pleased and He would give us rest. Why? Because we would have done what was right in the eyes of The Lord. And He is our God.