For government is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, because it does not carry the sword for no reason. For government is God’s servant, an avenger that brings wrath on the one who does wrong.
Romans 13:4 HCSB

Each state has a criminal code of conduct. In this code you will find revised statutes with numbers assigned which will tell you what is considered to be a crime and what the prescribed punishment or range of punishment should be for that particular crime all the way from minor traffic offenses to murder.

These statutes are revised from time to time to change the requirements for them to meet that particular crime or sometimes the punishment ranges change. This is why they are called revised statutes because they change and continue to be subject to change depending on the legislature.

Now many, many years ago, sometime between 1450 and 1410 B.C., God issued a set of laws which we know as the Ten Commandments. These have no room for revision. They were issued over 3,000 years ago and they hold true and remain steadfast even today.  Now these commandments, or at least the first four tell us how we should honor God and put Him first in our lives. If we do this it makes doing the remaining six which tell us how we should treat others much easier.

In Matthew 22:36 Jesus was questioned about which was the greatest commandment. He summed up the Ten Commandments with two commands. He told them in verse 37 to love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind. If you do this, you will certainly be in obedience where the first four of the Ten Commandments are concerned. Then he told them that the second is like it and explained that they were to love their neighbor as they loved themselves. When we do this, we will automatically obey the last six commandments.

We’ve allowed God to be removed from our schools. We have allowed the Ten Commandments to be removed from many of our courthouses and public buildings and we wonder where we went wrong. Seriously? What we are seeing throughout our country is the result of our turning our backs on Jesus Christ. We have forgotten that He died to save us. We are reaping what we, as a nation, have sewn for so many years.

Just recently, in Minneapolis, a police officer murdered a man. It is my understanding that he has been charged  with manslaughter. A number of people were unhappy about the charge and decided to riot and violate many criminal statutes. They have incited rioting around the country.  The problem here is that they are not only in direct violation of laws and criminal statutes in their states, but they are in direct violation of God’s laws. We are told in Romans 12:17 that we are not to repay evil for evil. We are told in Romans 12:19 that we are not to avenge ourselves, but that we should leave room for His wrath. My friend, no one can rain down vengeance like the Lord. For those that don’t obey His commands there will be judgment.

The police officer committed police brutality, the masses respond with violence. But, then they are upset when the police must respond with violence to combat their violence. What a mess!

It amazes me that churches sit empty on Sundays while thousands of people take to the streets across the country to plot evil by burning down buildings of people that have no dog whatsoever in this fight and fighting police officers that have had no involvement in what occurred in Minneapolis.  Thousands of people across the country want to initiate violence with police forces throughout our country because of the act of one lone police officer.

The problem we have in our country is simply a lack of Christianity. One would tend to believe that the officer that sparked all this was not walking with the Spirit when he committed this act. We can also surmise that those out there rioting are not filled with the Holy Spirit. We can identify Christians by their love (John 13:35) and we can clearly see a lack of it here.

We are a nation that has turned from God and it shows. Without revival there will be no reform. We are told in 2 Chronicles 7:14 that if we will humble ourselves and pray and seek the Lord and turn from our evil ways that God will hear from heaven, forgive our sin, and heal our land.

My friend, our only hope is Jesus. You may be the only Bible those around you will ever read. Allow them to see you live out the Ten Commandments. Allow them to see you love the Lord with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind.  Allow them to see you love others as you love yourself or perhaps even more. Let them see what it’s like to have the unending joy and peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7) that can only come from a relationship with your Lord and Savior.

We have seen how rioting can spread throughout the country like a wildfire. What if religion could do the same? Be the spark that starts that fire.

Have a great day!