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What Kind of World Is It?
“WHAT KIND OF WORLD IS IT?”
Looking around us today we see a world that seems to have gone mad. We read and hear about all kinds of situations that make us scratch our heads and wonder what is wrong with the world. Some of us are old enough to remember a movie from the 1960’s called, “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.” It is about a group of people seeking to find a fortune in cash buried in a coastal town. The main characters seem to throw out all logical reasoning and replace it with madness in their search for fortune. During the movie, a tow truck is stolen, an antique biplane is used, and other such madness follows in the chase. The movie gives way to more and more silliness eventually leading to total lunacy.
This type of lunacy prevails in many Biblical situations. During the days of Jeremiah, the people of God could rightly be called, mad, mad, mad, mad. Jeremiah tried to warn the people that destruction was at hand unless they returned to God. Others called him mad and declared peace was at hand. Jeremiah wrote, “Look, the false pen of the scribe certainly works falsehood.” Jeremiah 8:8. Jeremiah’s foes even lowered him into the mud of a dry cistern hoping to eliminate him. (Jeremiah 38:6) Despite Jeremiah’s warnings about their fall into sinfulness, they refused to listen and became madder in their actions. True to Jeremiah’s word, the nation was taken into Babylonian captivity.
Today, many of us who are older will say without hesitation that similar conditions exist. Just as in the time of Jeremiah, destruction awaits the world in which we live. We read in 2 Peter 3:10, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise and the elements will melt with a fervent heat; both the earth and the works that in it will be burned up.” It appears that many have thrown out all reasoning. Many serve the god of this age and completely ignore God’s warnings. In 2 Corinthians 4:4, we read, “whose minds the god of this world has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is in the image of God, should shine on them.” Many seek to discredit the message of Jesus Christ and declare His teachings as out of touch and filled with hate. Paul reminds those of Thessalonica that God will bring destruction upon those who disobey and are in rebellion. (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9)
Just as in the days of Jeremiah the remedy for this mad, mad, mad, mad world is the same. Repent and turn to the Lord. Lean not upon your own understanding, but trust in the Lord. Pray for your country, and strive to live your life according to God’s Word. God’s promises never fail. God knows how to deliver the righteous.
Written by Larry Schneider
