The Boundaries

We were in Green Bay Wisconsin on a cold day in December, and had lost the key to our hotel room. To our surprise, the desk clerk gave us another one without asking to see our ID. She didn’t even ask for our names. If we had done the same thing in California, they would have wanted our names, ID’s, thumb prints, voice recognition, a deposit, and a $35 key fee.

There was a time in the United States when you didn’t have to lock your car or the front door of your house. It was a time when you could trust your neighbors and they could trust you. There was a time when your wife could go shopping after dark and not fear being raped, or you could go camping and not end up being murdered. There were crimes, but it was nothing like it is nowadays.

What has happened to our nation? We have become what the Bible calls "lawless." We have forsaken God’s Law, and when that happens we forsake the fear of God. When a nation loses the fear of the Lord, we lose our moral boundaries. Thus we have contemporary America.

Most Christians know that the salvation for the United States won’t come through economic policies, or through a change of government. It can only come through a change of heart, and only God can change a sin-loving heart into one that loves righteousness. However, it’s important for us to remember that the agenda of the Church of the Book of Acts wasn’t to make Israel the greatest political and economic nation on earth. It was simply to preach the gospel and see sinners saved from the wrath of a holy God. It’s easy for us to get caught up in the temporal, when we should be putting our energies into the eternal.