They ain’t makin’ no more cowboys like me, hardly. The times have gone off and left us.”
–Elmer Kelton (The Smiling Country)
“But understand this, that in the last days dangerous times [of great stress and trouble] will come [difficult days that will be hard to bear].”
–2 Timothy 3:1 (Amplified)
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I used a quotation earlier in the week by Ernest Haycox and I want to look at it again lest there be any misleading thoughts. “Times change. I guess we ain’t got any right to stick to the old, familiar things. But it goes hard–it goes hard.” Now get this, some things change, due to technology, fads, vocations and the such, however, morals and values do not change.
Some things drive me batty such as females wearing holes in their jeans. Why? Growing up, Grandma wouldn’t allow a hole to last long, she’d put a patch on it, and if necessary a patch on the patch. I still grin thinking of coming home from college. Grandpa would come by the house and give me two dollars–to get a haircut. It’s wasn’t that I liked long hair, I just didn’t have the money to get a haircut. He took care of that problem. Oh, there was no discussion of my hair color so when I see hair from chartreuse to scarlet to whatever, I cringe. Piercings, tattoos, while they may show a condition of the heart, give me the willies.
But in terms of change, morals do not. God’s word is true today, the same as it was yesterday. Morals may have fallen out of fashion with the woke society, but they are still important to God, and therefore to man. Some terms have become old-fashioned. Holiness, wisdom, integrity, honesty, justice, to name a few. Oh, they may still be used, but because of the deconstruction by the postmodernists they can have myriad meanings. Today’s society thinks they are more enlightened and have more information, therefore more intelligence and insight than previous generations. Look at those terms again, they are not mental, but moral!
People may hear the words of the Bible, but only a few put them into practice. Truth is truth, and right is right–it is not what you think, what you make it, or what society says it is. When society or a culture begins to attempt to change the truth of God’s Word they are in danger of losing their moral compass. Evil will never be good, lies will never be truth. A man is a man, a woman is a woman, and even in the midst of so-called change, progress, and the like it is still true. Deception brings about confusion and that is the work of the devil.
James writes, “Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” (1:16-17, NKJV) No matter what the postmodernists say, what the progressives say, what the woke crowd says, God is still the same, He never changes–there is not even a “shadow of turning.” He is faithful, He is true, He is sure and we can trust Him no matter the situation of life. The writer of Hebrews says succinctly, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” (13:8, NKJV)
The words of the hymn by Jennie Bain Wilson come to mind,
“Time is filled with swift transition,
Naught of earth unmoved can stand,
Build your hopes on things eternal,
Hold to God’s unchanging hand.”
Life changes quickly and it goes hard–it goes hard. The thing is to hold onto the things that are eternal–God’s unchanging hand. Values are sure if they are based in the Word of God–hold on to that truth. Craziness of the times, evil seems to flourish, but we have a Friend who is there all the time–hold to His unchanging hand.
—————————-
I used a quotation earlier in the week by Ernest Haycox and I want to look at it again lest there be any misleading thoughts. “Times change. I guess we ain’t got any right to stick to the old, familiar things. But it goes hard–it goes hard.” Now get this, some things change, due to technology, fads, vocations and the such, however, morals and values do not change.
Some things drive me batty such as females wearing holes in their jeans. Why? Growing up, Grandma wouldn’t allow a hole to last long, she’d put a patch on it, and if necessary a patch on the patch. I still grin thinking of coming home from college. Grandpa would come by the house and give me two dollars–to get a haircut. It’s wasn’t that I liked long hair, I just didn’t have the money to get a haircut. He took care of that problem. Oh, there was no discussion of my hair color so when I see hair from chartreuse to scarlet to whatever, I cringe. Piercings, tattoos, while they may show a condition of the heart, give me the willies.
But in terms of change, morals do not. God’s word is true today, the same as it was yesterday. Morals may have fallen out of fashion with the woke society, but they are still important to God, and therefore to man. Some terms have become old-fashioned. Holiness, wisdom, integrity, honesty, justice, to name a few. Oh, they may still be used, but because of the deconstruction by the postmodernists they can have myriad meanings. Today’s society thinks they are more enlightened and have more information, therefore more intelligence and insight than previous generations. Look at those terms again, they are not mental, but moral!
People may hear the words of the Bible, but only a few put them into practice. Truth is truth, and right is right–it is not what you think, what you make it, or what society says it is. When society or a culture begins to attempt to change the truth of God’s Word they are in danger of losing their moral compass. Evil will never be good, lies will never be truth. A man is a man, a woman is a woman, and even in the midst of so-called change, progress, and the like it is still true. Deception brings about confusion and that is the work of the devil.
James writes, “Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” (1:16-17, NKJV) No matter what the postmodernists say, what the progressives say, what the woke crowd says, God is still the same, He never changes–there is not even a “shadow of turning.” He is faithful, He is true, He is sure and we can trust Him no matter the situation of life. The writer of Hebrews says succinctly, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” (13:8, NKJV)
The words of the hymn by Jennie Bain Wilson come to mind,
“Time is filled with swift transition,
Naught of earth unmoved can stand,
Build your hopes on things eternal,
Hold to God’s unchanging hand.”
Life changes quickly and it goes hard–it goes hard. The thing is to hold onto the things that are eternal–God’s unchanging hand. Values are sure if they are based in the Word of God–hold on to that truth. Craziness of the times, evil seems to flourish, but we have a Friend who is there all the time–hold to His unchanging hand.