“The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?" - Jeremiah 17:9
Reading about the Uvalde massacre is deeply distressing for everyone - not just in Texas - not just in the United States - but in the world. It is senseless violence that reeks havoc in the lives of so many. The killing of innocents rends the heart of the fiercest of all of us. So the world will do what it does. Some will say we must prevent people from buying guns like the ones used in most mass murders. Some will say that we need police present in places where there are vulnerable people. Many will say that we need more laws. But this I know, laws do not prevent violators from violating them. Laws do not change hearts. Let's look at what the Word of God says about those who separated from God.
"Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." - Galatians 5:19-21
That is what is in the hearts of people who are lost - without God - without Jesus - without the Spirit. And as Paul reminds us - we too were once lost without hope - but now we are washed, sanctified, justified.
"Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God." - 1 Corinthians 6:9-11
Laws do not change hearts - they, at best, limit the acting out of what is in the heart - but thousands sitting in our jails and prisons would suggest - laws are marginally effective in deterring criminal behavior.
The answer is one that our culture refuses to embrace - it's faith in Jesus. John Lennon wrote a song with a lyric that goes "all we are saying is give peace a chance". But what is the source of that peace?
"Peace I [Jesus] leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." - John 14:27
I doubt that is the "peace" John Lennon was referring to - but it is the Peace that the world needs. It is the peace that the world rejects. The world does not get better on its own - it gets darker - revealing its true self. The world needs a heart change. The only way that will happen is faith in Jesus.
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation." - 2 Corinthians 5:17-18
That doesn't mean we should not take corrective actions in light of the threats of violence that we face. We should, but as Christians we need to understand there is a better answer. An answer, unfortunately that the world will reject until the day Jesus returns. The Spirit in us is the only way to give true peace a chance. That sounds too easy - it is not easy - it requires surrender by faith. The wisdom of God is foolishness to the natural man. Once anyone yields their heart to Jesus, they have given Peace a chance.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." -Galatians 5:22-25
Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.
By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone
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