There’s a whole lot of groveling going on in the Old Testament.  The Children of Israel continued to make the same mistakes over and over and over again.  It’s easy for us to see where they blew it – how they strayed from God’s promises – fell victim to foreign gods – tried to fit into different societies as they moved from place to place – fell to peer pressure – were bullied for their beliefs – and much more.  The prophets of old were constantly preaching the wages of sin and the woe and misery that would befall this nation.  Sometimes they listened. Most of the time they were much like us and followed the path chosen by them.

We point fingers and say how foolish they were, but as we do this, remember that three fingers are pointing back at us.  We easily succumb to the world and its temptations.  We are bombarded daily with stories of no respect for human life.  We see disgruntled people settling their differences with violence.  We allow our leadership to say and do things that compromise our safety and morality.  There’s no end to the evil in this land.  We put political correctness at the forefront not standing up for what we believe in.  We allow evil to take the place of good and don’t bat an eye. We’re surrounded by quotes about being kind to each other, but people continue to become brutally harmful with their words and actions.

The New Testament is also filled with people issues like bigotry, hatred, martyrdom, anger, self-absorption, narcissism, cheating, unethical and immoral behavior and kindness seems to be a thing of the past. These are signs of the end times, but actually they’ve been going on since the first human beings thought they were as good or better than their Creator. Obedience and respect for Him went by the wayside, giving way to jealousy, hatred, guilt, anger and all the other evil actions we continue to participate in.

God came up with a perfect plan for our redemption. He knows the plans He has for each of us. They may not be for us to attain success or wealth; they may mean we will suffer infirmities and illness. Life will not be a perfect journey. Everyone will face challenges on the way, but when God’s people returned to him – no matter how often they groveled, He forgave them.  Did that give them free reign to go and sin again?  Well, they did and so do we.  We sin every day – in our hearts and minds as well as our actions. When we see the beauty of God’s redemption plan, our mindset changes. We become focused on Jesus and His example for living – receive the Holy Spirit through baptism and God’s Word – and honor God, the Father for His amazing grace.

Maybe it’s time to get down on our knees and do some serious groveling.

Lord, You are in control of our lives.  We ask that you intervene in the hearts of men and bring them back to you.  You are our only hope in these troubling times. Amen!