Immersed in a Way of Thinking that Made no Sense

Two bucks caught on our "trail cam" fighting on the 
upper pasture. 

Scripture:

Rom. 1:¹⁹ For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. ²⁰ Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. So they are without excuse; ²¹ for though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were darkened. ²² Claiming to be wise, they became fools; ²³ and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human being or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles.

Observation:

The revelation of God is available to all of humankind. One only has to open their eyes to the reality of creation and see the mighty hand of God at work. We are left without excuse for believing there is no God. However, this has often been the response of humanity — to blind ourselves to the reality of God, and therefore refuse to honor and worship God. 

When we close our minds to the reality of God, we put on spiritual blinders. With those blinders in place, we cannot see or process the light which comes from God. Instead, we place ourselves on the throne of our lives and stumble around in the darkness, hoping to find joy through the tickling of our sensual practices. Human secularism has given rise to the affirmation of self as god. Everyone must become their own savior, and this is incredibly foolish when there is already a Savior available who has paid the high price for our freedom. 

Just like the children of Israel, wandering in the wilderness, we are willing to exchange the glory of God for images we can create with our own hands. Fundamentally, we continually break the first commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” The enemy begins at the very first command and drags humanity down with the original sin of idolatry. 

Chrysostom put it this way: 

The heathen tried to get to heaven, but having destroyed the light that was in them, instead entrusted themselves to the darkness of their own reasoning. They looked for the incorporeal in bodies and for the infinite in creaturely shapes, and so lost their congruity with the light. …Having some high opinion of themselves and not being patient enough to go the way that God had commanded them, they were immersed in a way of thinking which made no sense (HOMILIES ON ROMANS 3HOMILIES ON ROMANS 3).

Application:

The last phrase from Chrysostom is challenging, “they were immersed in a way of thinking that made no sense.” The reality is that the world believes that it is making a lot of sense, believing in “science” but certainly not in faith. Things have been turned upside down and we are encouraged to believe in modern science and to ignore the realities of God that we witness every single day. 

We become fools when we refuse to live in the light that we have received from God. Every day as I look out my window I can see the beauty of God’s creation. We are now living out in the country and I’m amazed at all the creatures that share out “neighborhood.” Chuck recently bought us a spot-light and before we go to bed we step outside and the flood the hillside to see the deer. Sometimes there are many, other nights they’ve already taken off and are settled in for the night. We have a raccoon who loves to hang out and the grandkids have named him Derek (don’t ask my why). We have possum and a hedge hog, and even a coyote. Each one of these creatures has their own intricate design (however, the other day I was contemplating the possum and — well, God must have had a purpose!). All of these creatures represent the creative nature of our loving God. I don’t worship these animals, but I do worship the One who put them here on this earth. 

Years ago I remember watching the video series from James Dobson, “Dare to Discipline.” There’s a section where he talks about little children testing the boundaries. While this was nearly 40 years ago, I still remember him saying that children test the boundaries because they want to know where the boundaries are. Children actually become frightened if there is not an adult to push back on them and to show them how far they can go. If there are no boundaries and no adults to keep them within the bounds, they discover that they are in charge, and they actually become frightened. Children want to feel safe and secure, and they don’t want to have to be in charge of their own lives. God’s children are becoming more and more frightened as the world tells them that they are in charge — that they are god. They become immersed in a way of thinking that makes no sense, because we are not god. 

It is this way of thinking that is leading to a frightening level of teen-age suicide. It is leading to a generation who believes that they are supposed to select their own gender, in essence, becoming god, instead of believing in a God who has created them beautifully. As followers of Christ our response is not one of anger, but of patient love, and a long journey of discipleship. We must help bring people back into the congruity of the “light” — which is Christ. Jesus is still the “way, the truth, and the life.” When we walk with him, he will illumine our path and will clear our minds. 

Prayer:

Lord, please help me to walk in your light every single day. Amen.