In Isaiah 5, God instructs the prophet to declares six “woes” (judgments) upon the nation of Israel for their continued rebellion against His precepts: 

  “Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth! (5:8)”  This describes wealthy, greedy, materialistic individuals who hoard all of the best to themselves. 

  “Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them! …but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands. (5:11-12)”  This describes those who live with their minds altered by drugs, and who have a total disregard for God, His Word, and His work. 

  “Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope: That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it! (5:18-19)”  This describes those who are bound to sin by their vanity.  They defile the nation, and defy God to judge them.

“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! (5:20)”  This describes those who live in defiance of God’s moral law, calling good evil, and evil good.  They believe every man is entitled to his own truth.

  “Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! (5:21)”  This describes conceited men and women who cannot be corrected because they see themselves as all wise.

  “Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink: Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him! (5:22-23)”  This describes those who, under the influence of alcohol, take bribes to justify the wicked and deny justice to the innocent.

  God has not changed!  America, like Israel of old, has been blessed of God immensely, and yet rebelled.  America, like Israel of old, will be judged.

  It seems there is not a week that goes by in which I don’t hear someone say, “I’m just not able to do the things that I used to do.”  Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I speak mostly to those who, like myself, are growing older and our bodies more frail.  For many, it is a worrisome thought, but I have learned that it is easier to embrace the fact that we will not live on earth forever, and what we are feeling has been common to mankind in every era.  There are indeed seasons of life that define who we are from the cradle to the grave, and each new season stands in stark contrast to the last.

  The Bible tells us that God created us as eternal souls for His own eternal fellowship.  For those of us who believe Him, life on earth is the beginning rather than the end.  You do believe in God don’t you?  The purpose of our present temporal life is to glorify God in all that we do, and to prepare ourselves for eternal life in His presence.  This preparation involves accepting His gift of forgiveness, which was purchased at great cost to Himself.  Jesus, His Son, stooped to become a man in order to buy us back, and restore us to our Creator God.  He died, was buried, and rose again from the grave, to purchase our pardon and offer us eternal life in His presence.  “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. (Acts 16:31)”

  As older and perhaps wiser believers living in the last seasons of life, we can avail ourselves of new opportunities to serve the Lord—things that we were incapable of before, or perhaps “too busy,” or too ignorant to grasp the significance of.  Missionary C.T. Studd said it best, “Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.”

  Perhaps you should put life on pause for a moment, step back and ask yourself a few questions:  Am I ready to meet the Lord?  Have I done anything to honor Him who has sacrificed so much for me?  It is time to consider your eternal soul and the continuation of life in a realm of which, though unseen, you are destined to be a part.  “…it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: (Hebrews 9:27)”

  You have heard of the old wanted posters of yesteryear that pictured the heinous criminal and the words Wanted Dead or Alive.  If you ever saw such a poster with the inscription Wanted Dead AND Alive you would probably want to report a printer’s error, but in a biblical sense a person might very well be Dead AND Alive at the same time.  I’ll explain.

  The Bible teaches us that there is both a physical and spiritual side of man.  In both realms, a man is either alive or dead.  The physical side of man is most easily observed and everyone understands the concept of dead or alive in this realm, but perhaps the spiritual side of man is less familiar.  Let’s start with the fact that when God created man, He breathed into His body the “breath of life” and the first man became a living soul.  God’s intention was for man to live forever in His presence.  “…all things were created by him, and for him: (Colossians 1:16)”  When sin entered the picture, in Genesis 3, though still alive physically, man lost His privilege of fellowship with sinless God, and “died” spiritually.  From that point, he and all of his descendants are referred to as “dead in trespasses and sins. (Ephesians 2:1)” 

  God’s Word says, “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. (John 17:3)”  If eternal life is knowing God and His Son Jesus, then not knowing Him must be eternal death—separation from God for all eternity.  So a person can be alive physically and dead spiritually, or he could be alive in both realms.

  If you understand that you are spiritually dead because of sin, and separated from God, you will be encouraged to know that it is possible to be “Born Again” (John 3) in the spiritual realm and be restored to God as part of His eternal family.  I’m sure, to some this will sound absurd, but because your eyes and heart have been fixed for so long on the physical, most anything that you might hear of the eternal realm will require a step of faith.  “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)”  To ignore what God has said would be foolish.

  Someone once jokingly said, “It is senseless to use the word tomorrow because tomorrow never arrives; when it dawns, immediately it is called today.”  God’s Word tells of some men who made business plans for tomorrow.  James reminded them that tomorrows are filled with uncertainty.  Even if tomorrow arrives, how could they know assuredly that they would be alive to enjoy it?  “Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. (James 4:13-14)”

  The brevity of life, and the uncertainties associated with tomorrow are not pleasant thoughts, but the next verse in the passage says, “For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. (James 4:15)”  While we are unable to predict the future or our roles in it, the Bible tells us that God knows the future as well as the past—He is omniscient (all knowing).  He can make plans for tomorrow and be certain of their fulfillment—He is omnipotent (all powerful).  He knows where He will be on tomorrow—He is omnipresent (everywhere present).  Some will smirk at the idea, supposing that if there is a God, He must be as uncertain and vulnerable as every man.  But he is a fool who would own a god that is no stronger, or wiser than himself.   Based only upon the visible evidence around you, God must indeed be all that the Bible professes Him to be.  “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: (Romans 1:20)”

We can certainly trust this God with all of our tomorrows.  As the chronicler of the southern kingdom of Israel once wrote, “Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all. (1Chronicles 29:11)”

For our context, a paradigm is a world view that serves as the foundation supporting our answers to questions like: Where did we come from?  Why are we here?  Where are we going?  When our country was formed, most agreed on the foundational principles upon which our morals and laws should be based.  These principles have been referred to as Judaeo Christian Values.  Even while our fledgling country had its growing pains, it enjoyed freedoms and bounty that had been little known over the face of the globe.  America has obviously been blessed by the God whose values we embraced.

  Today, we are witnessing the demise of our constitutional republic, as sin and the neglect of our eternal souls have loosed us from our time honored moorings, and set us adrift as a nation.  Because we are falling away from these Judaeo Christian Values, and our sense of dependence upon God is greatly diminished, a new paradigm has been formulated in the minds of evil men, a foundation based on the tenets of godless humanism.  But God would have us beware: “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (John 3:19)”  Time will prove that the God of the Bible was and is our only hope of survival.

  History is replete with examples of nations and cultures that have abandoned God to worship the creature rather than the Creator.  “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. (Romans 1:28-32)”

  We must repent, and return to the God of our fathers, before it is too late!