Roundup Record Tribune & Winnett Times -

TRUTH AND LIES

We live in a strange time. A new adventure for most of us. Few people are still alive from the great depression in the 1920’s, but I was fortunate enough to know many of them who willingly shared their experiences with me. A time of no jobs, a time of famine, a time of having to live on a shoestring, a time of hopelessness for many. One couple in my church were blessed to be able to come to Fort Peck and work on the dam that was being there. They told me about the shacks they had to live in, the scarcity of food, but they had a job and a little income thanks to President Roosevelt. And they were willing to step out and move to the wilds of Montana to make a new life for themselves.

When we read God’s Word, where does America fit in? It wasn’t known when the Bible was written so how can we apply what it says to our nation. Our nation was founded upon the same principles as Israel. The founding Fathers of America came to establish a new country under God. The Bible was used as the foundation to write the documents that created this country. When God looks at the promises made by the ones who founded our country, He blessed it abundantly because it was based on His very Word and established to honor Him in all things. So, when you read the Bible, you can put America’s name in where you see Israel’s. And just as Israel turned away from their beginnings, so, too, has America. But God has not changed. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The only difference is, ancient Israel was under the LAW, and we are under GRACE. Because of the sacrifice of Jesus, the LAW was fulfilled. Every bit of it. All 600+ laws, fulfilled in the death of Jesus on the cross. The LAW came by a servant, but GRACE AND TRUTH came by the Son.

However, being under Grace does not mean we can ignore the Law. The LAW is good and holy. It is perfect. But it cannot change you and make you holy, good, righteous. Grace can. Law demands from humans to DO the impossible. No one can keep the LAW. And if you break even one little part of the LAW, you have broken the entire LAW. No one can do it. God knew this when He gave Moses the LAW. If there is one thing God dislikes, it is self-effort. In Exodus 15:1, the Israelites sang,”I will sing unto the Lord for He has triumphed gloriously, the horse and rider He has thrown into the sea”. You see, they didn’t do anything but OBEY and God saved them from Pharaoh’s army that was chasing them down. Yet, in Exodus 19:8, the people said, “All that the Lord has spoken WE WILL DO”. In the Hebrew that is very strong language! And to think that they had not even heard what God had spoken yet. That is not given until Exodus 20. Self-effort is an affront to God and His power and authority. God wanted to take care of them, not have them take care of themselves.

How often does God set us free from our bondage and then we take over and say,”OK, God, I can take it from here”? We stop calling on Him, we stop talking to Him, we go on our merry way never dreaming that God has other plans for us. Plans to do us good and not harm, plans to give us a future and a hope. Read the words of God through the prophet Jeremiah 9:23-24: “Thus says the Lord, let not the wise and skillful person glory and boast in their strength and power; let not the person who is rich (in physical gratification and earthly wealth) glory and boast in their earthly riches; but let the one who glories glory in this, that they understand and knows ME (personally and practically, directly discerning and recognizing My character) that I am the Lord Who practices loving-kindness , judgment and righteousness in the earth; for in these things I delight says the Lord”(Amplified Version)

Psalm 135:15 describes the present day world perfectly, “the idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands”. Pray that we will reject those idols and turn back to the God Who created us, Who knows everything about everything, and Who is the ONLY ONE Who can save us!

Rev. Joyce Kaplan, M.Div, Retired United Church of Christ pastor.