The Soul That Sins . . . Part I

Rev. Sudha Mehta©

Time to Choose!!

Rioters photo Vox GettyImages

Isaiah 53: 6 We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.(BSB)

292 police officers injured . . . that is just in New York. Across the Nation, other officers have been injured, some are in serious condition; yet others have been killed. One was shot in the head, one retired police chief left dying with a gunshot wound while others did nothing. A female officer dead. Yet three more led into an ambush, one died two injured! And More . . .

Suddenly we have gone from Covid-19 to becoming a war-zone where Law and Order are defied and rejected. Now the rioters are demanding the police be disbanded forever, so they can substitute with their own “militias” . . . what could go wrong?! If they get their way, we could end up in the Wild, Wild West again!!

One bad police officer . . . one wrongful and entirely undeserved death of a man has become the match that lit up the Nation!

Then what was to be a peaceful protest was hijacked by organized criminal agents that left cities looted and burned. Countless millions worth of property destroyed.

In this series I feel compelled to address some heartbreaking issues I am seeing in my world today.

To be honest it has been hard to write, for I see the news which frankly, at times leave me feeling numb.

I find myself a spectator watching as if all the world is a stage and every man an actor, just like Shakespeare saw and wrote centuries ago.

The play I see is far from enjoyable, it is painfully malignant with hostility and violence. On and on goes the drone of the news, giving a minute by minute play, and usually things don’t get better, only worse.

You all around the world are watching the riots in America. Over the past years and months we have watched the same kind of violence in other parts of the World. Pick a Country, you will find people unhappy with their leaders, the climate, their economy and on and on. Violence breaks out in every society from time to time, today, as it has in history. Sometimes with good reason, and sometimes all that is needed is an excuse to cause riots.

Rioting Photo by The Financial Express

No matter what the reason, hard times and trouble reveal the true nature of man.

I saw a video clip in which a man was beaten to a pulp, within no more than a couple minutes, the crowd bashed him mercilessly and walked away, leaving him a mangled mess on the roadside. I looked at his twisted form, and thought no man could survive such a beating . . . he didn’t . . . he died. What did he do to deserve such horrific traetment? . . . He tried to defend his store from being looted.

Looting photo by Vox GettyImages

In another clip today, a woman stood outside her store not wanting looters to loot her place of business. Without regard to size, age or gender I watched, horrified, as she was flung around like a rag doll by a Big Burly young man. Then others joined in, even using objects to bash her and left her lying wounded and broken. Will she survive . . . I don’t know.

BrokenStoreWindow-GeorgeFloydRiots-2020-AP EricKohn px

By now many average people with small businesses have recieved this treatment. Livelihoods that were already hurting due to Covid-19, are now destroyed perhaps never to return. Many of our streets have been burnt down. Department Stores/ Pharmacies/ Hardware stores/ Restuarants/ Specialty Boutiques . . . all looted and burned.

Burning and Looting Begins photo by Coffs Coast Advocate

In one instance report from The Daily Wire:

According to Smith, rioters set fire to an occupied multi- residence with a child inside, then repeatedly blocked firefighters’ access to the scene.

Thankfully, officers found a way to secure access and saved the family, including the child. . . .

“Protesters intentionally set a fire to an occupied building on [West] Broad Street. This is not the only occupied building that has been set fire to in the last two days.”

“They prohibited us from getting on scene,” the police chief continued. “We had to force our way to make a clear path for the fire department.”

I know this is here in the USA, but I know enough to know this kind of stuff happens Worldwide. Different Nations/ reasons/ politics/religions . . . yet the same human condition. There is righteous protest to unrighteous actions by the few; and on the other side there is unrighteous anger that is entirely disproportionate that turns cities into rubble, and leaves broken hearts/broken people in it’s wake, destitute and without help.

And this isn’t even WAR!

What I find hard to comprehend is that these very same people who have no problem looting, beating, bashing, destroying people and property are neighbors to someone. They themselves live in homes, and have mothers/daughters/sons/fathers/ brothers/sisters. How do they go home to that and live with and among family, and smile/ carry a conversation/sleep/ and deal with their own thoughts? . . . I do not know.

Photo by Katie E on Pexels.com

Photo by nappy on Pexels.com

Photo from Pexel

How does anyone go home after beating a woman who just didn’t want someone to destroy her home . . . or kill a man trying to save his business, and give a hug to your own wife/mother/child?!

Could you go to your home after mangling up and killing someone and say “What’s for dinner . . . ?”

Could you pick up your little son and give him a hug and a kiss, after you have bloodied your hand by killing another person’s son in the street?!

Apparently, these rioters do!!

sharing food — Photo by fauxels on Pexels.com

Many choose to sit it all out, thinking it is not their battle.

Many others have strong opinions, but leaving the comforts of home is not part of their agenda, they just prattle on about the injustices of the world, blaming one side or the other, but not actively supporting by showing up.

Burying your head in sand by istockphoto

I sit and watch, numb at times, grieving and filled with sorrow . . . and pray at other times. I think the violence I see is of the Devil!!! It is the Devil who wants to see humanity divided by race/color/creed/age/gender and whatever excuse he (the Devil) can come up with. It works for his evil agenda. Men and women become mere puppets in his hands.

I wonder what it looks like from God’s vantage point from up in heaven?! His planet Earth . . . the one He so lovingly formed . . . where He created every living being with a soul . . . where He placed Adam and Eve, both created in His image, to govern, tend to, keep from harm.

I wonder how He feels . . .

You see He created Man (and Woman) in His likeness, to be mirror images of Him. Yet Mankind chose to rebel against Him by disobedience thus losing the fellowship they had with Him, and became slaves to SIN and the DEVIL and finally Death awaited separating them from Him forever.

Animal sacrifice provided a temporary reprieve in the Old Testament.

God promised that in the fullness of time, He would provide a permanent reprieve from all animal bloodshed by coming to His beloved planet Earth and offering Himself in human flesh as that perfect Sinless Sacrifice, so that mankind could be reconciled to Him and to each other.

He did come, 2000 years ago. God Himself set aside His own divinity and becoming 100% human, remained sinless all the way to the Cross. There at the Cross, He took on the burden of all the sins of all mankind that has ever lived, past, present and future . . . every single one of them, and paid the penalty of death for them ALL.

Yet even at this point as He hung nailed to the cross after having been beaten so badly that He was unrecognizable, He still uttered the words,

Luke 23: 34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”(NKJV)

An illustration:

A young woman was taken to court for violating certain laws by a police officer. Unbeknownst to her and the officer, the presiding Judge this day turned out to be none other than her own father. She was happy, and expected to be set free without any penalty. After all, her daddy loved her very much.

Imagine her shock when the Judge fined her the maximum amount the Law allowed. He said if the fine was not paid she would go to Jail. She couldn’t believe her ears and cried out to him in disbelief for she could not pay the large fine and did not want to end up in jail.

After adjourning the court, the Judge got up from his seat, took off the Judges robe, and walked to the window where the fine was to be paid. He took out His own wallet and paid the fine in full.

This daughter came to see the judgment as well as the mercy of the court.

God does this for us. The Law of God is clear:

Ezekiel 18:4b The soul who sins is the one who will die. (BSB)

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.(NKJV)

After His resurrection, when He ascended, Jesus gave the task to His disciples to spread the Good News that all authority had been given to Him, and by simple faith, Mankind could have victory over Sin and entry to eternal life in Heaven. The simple faith only requires that humans accept that His sacrifice was made for them, and that the penalty that they were required to pay, has already been paid by God Himself.

Now, Jesus, God incarnate in human form, sits at the right hand of God the Father, while His Holy Spirit dwells in us believers as our Helper helping us to walk holy and transforming us from within so our hearts are changed. Genuine change always begins from within. Accepting Christ’s Sacrifice in our stead, and repenting we begin to see a change in ourselves as our desires change.

The Bible says:

Jeremiah 17: 9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? 10 I, the LORD, search the heart; I examine the mind to reward a man according to his way, by what his deeds deserve. (BSB)

But He also says in the same chapter:

Jeremiah 17: 7 But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him. 8 He is like a tree planted by the waters that sends out its roots toward the stream. It does not fear when the heat comes, and its leaves are always green. It does not worry in a year of drought, nor does it cease to produce fruit.(BSB)

It is time to pick and do what you want. The horrible things people do to each other break the heart of God, and leaves the heart of man in a mangled mess also. Your conscience dies if you continue on defying and denying God’s way. You can have His blessing, or . . . He can serve you justice without His mercy according to your deeds (unrepented). After all, the condition of your heart is not hidden from Him . . . He knows anyway!

You can, like the many, choose to bury your head and pretend you don’t see, hear or know what goes on in the World or in your own heart . . .

Heads buried in sand by imgflip

Or lift your head up, stand for righteousness, help the weak and oppressed, humble yourself before God, and walk righteously before men and God. Then you can expect God’s favor.