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Ring of Truth provides 366 daily ‘proofs’ that the Bible is consistent throughout from Genesis to Revelation, and relevant for our lives today!
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Psalm 14:1 & 53:1
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
We considered yesterday that the theory of evolution is a very recent theological viewpoint. Atheism, on the other hand, has been around for a very long time.
The points David makes in the Psalms are as relevant today as they were then. He shows quite clearly that without God there is no moral code. The only reason we have any socially accepted standards is because there is a God and a good One at that. If we discount God, not only do we become god, but also no one can argue with what we want to do.
We end up with a ‘pecking order’, which is successful only as long as people accept it. Without God there is no moral justification for any such system. Therefore, our moral and social order becomes open to being hijacked by anyone with both sufficient power and the will to wield it.
If there is no God, why must I obey any rules? I can take what I like when I see it, whether it is land, objects or people. We see this happening all around us, even though there is a degree of moral responsibility - which is here mainly because of our Judaeo-Christian heritage. The decline in morality equates directly with the decline in acceptance of that Christian heritage. That, in itself, is moving society deeper into an atheistic, humanistic and materialistic values system.
I find it interesting that marriage is now seen as the culprit for so much pain in society but it wasn’t marriage that caused it - it was divorce. Those who have experienced long marriages confirm that their marriages ‘worked’ because they ‘worked’ at them. People are humans with needs. So often people are looking for marriage to answer their primary needs but it can’t. On the other hand, if those people worked through the issues, they could be set free and their marriage saved.
Often we don’t want to sort the issues out, apologise or change, and so we become hard, selfish and intransigent. When we choose divorce, the split causes ripples of pain that can continue for generations - and we still end up taking all our baggage with us unresolved. Marriage is not the curse - divorce is. Instead of saying, ‘I don’t believe in marriage’ - we should be saying, ‘I don’t believe in divorce.’ That is the killer.
This verse can also be translated, ‘The fool has said in his heart, “No, God!”’ In other words, the emphasis is not so much on atheism but rebellion. In reality, this is probably the real issue facing the Western Civilised World. That’s why we are liberalising all our moral laws and losing the plot. Interestingly, the results are the same.
Believing in God is not enough.
Obedience is what matters, anything less leads to chaos and destruction - only a fool would want that.
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