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Society isn't always right
Pastor's corner
pastor corner

About 800 years before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah served as a spokesman for God.

Some of our favorite passages are found in his writings. He penned a marvelous text about worship in Isaiah 6, concluding with his commitment to follow the Lord, "Here am I. Send me."

He also predicted the coming of the Messiah in chapter 9, saying that this special child would be called "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Near the end of his book, he wrote words of hope about the children of God: "They who wait for the Lord will renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."

But there is a little-known text found in chapter 5 of Isaiah that I believe sums up much of what is happening in our world today. The prophet wrote, "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!"

What do you think Isaiah had in mind as he wrote these words? He is telling us that there are those who stand so opposed to what God says that they will actually claim that God’s word is bad, and that what he says will harm us.

Does this ring familiar to you? We live in a time when this is certainly true. "Up is down, and in is out. Right is wrong."

Or so it is claimed. But this is not a new thing. It was happening 2,800 years ago.

Here’s the deal. We live in a time just like it was at the end of the Book of Judges. "In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes." And that was not a good thing.

The Bible says our hearts are deceitful. It was Jiminy Cricket, not the Bible, who said, "Let your conscience be your guide." The Bible often says things that are hard for us to follow. But God’s Word remains true. We do best when we do what he says.

I pray that we will have the faith and the courage to follow him, even when society tells us we are wrong.

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