Scripture gives me scant hope for God’s continued blessing on our nation. Speaking with a woman some weeks past, we were discussing the moral climate of the nation. As we spoke, I commented that witnessing the moral choices being made by many professed Christians, I was distressed, disappointed. She agreed, noting that many of her single friends were promiscuous—they were openly sleeping with multiple sexual partners—and the women of whom she spoke were professing Christians. Excusing immorality appears to be rather common among the professed people of God; demands for holiness from the pulpit are increasingly rare.
Reading morning devotions one crisp morning a few weeks past, I heard the voice of God speaking through Jeremiah. Jeremiah warned the nation, “‘Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!’ declares the LORD. Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: ‘You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD. Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD’” [JEREMIAH 23:1-4].
