THURSDAY JUNE 18, 2020
TOPIC: WORSE THAN SODOM
TEXT:EZEKIEL 16:44-52
KEY VERSE: "As I live, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters" (EZEKIEL 16:48).
It was reported recently on BBC that a Prime Minister in a European country officially married his male partner a few months after his country's parliament lifted the gay marriage ban. He became the second EU leader to marry a same-sex partner while in office.
From the passage, Prophet Ezekiel denounced Judah as a nation whose abominations were worse than those of Sodom because they had surpassed other nations in their abominable practices. He decried the apparent lack of feelings or guilt among the inhabitants of Judah and Israel.
Israel and her sister Judah were involved in the worship of other gods. They worshipped the Canaanite Baal whose worship was a rampage of gluttony, drunkenness and ritual prostitution. They burnt their children in sacrifice to strange gods and imbibed all the immoral lifestyles of other nations to provoke God to anger.
Today, the present world has overtaken Sodom and Gomorrah in immorality and wickedness. Man has degraded himself to the point of getting married to animals. The LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) community is ever increasing with new abominable sexual orientations added every day.
The world classifies all these under the caption of "human rights" and the need to accept others' diversity. This was exactly what happened in Judah at this time. Ezekiel was seen as a fanatic and a conservative prophet who condemns everything done in the nation.
Like Ezekiel, we must condemn the immorality of the current age and not allow ourselves to be polluted and caught in its evil web. This is the only way we can escape being punished with them on the judgment day.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Come out from present-day Sodom._
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: COLOSSIANS 1-4
HIGHER EVERYDAY
THURSDAY JUNE 18, 2020
TOPIC: ALL THAT GLITTERS - 1
TEXT:PROVERBS 5:1-12
MEMORY VERSE: "But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell" (PROVERBS 5:4, 5).
Quoting a new study, Roxanne Khamsi says that, "People are fooled by magic tricks, even if their eyes see past the illusion." Tricks work by distorting our perception, even though they do not fool our eyes.
Similarly, outward appearance can be greatly misleading. Gold is a very valuable metal. It has an attractive and glittering appearance too. But it does not mean that everything which glitters like gold must be precious.
There are utterly valueless things that look like gold, and taking them on the face value is unwise. On the contrary, some of the dull-looking things in life may possess immense value.
This is also true of human beings. The person you may see as having an attractive appearance may not be godly or possess any great abilities, and can even turn out to be unscrupulous.
Therefore, learn to judge people on the basis of the content of their character and abilities, and not on their external appearance. Does your friend have Christian virtues? Possibly, he or she is just a misleading glass piece dazzling and glittering like a diamond.
QUOTE: Does your friend have Christian virtues?
CHALLENGE: Don't always trust what your eyes see.
PRAYER: Lord, give me a discerning spirit.