Once again, our Government is tightening the lockdown restrictions, the quarantine restraints and the self-isolation regulations, and the repressive ‘rule of six’ people has been redefined. The politicians and scientists are tremendously fearful of a second wave of the pandemic sweeping across the nation and the ensuing destruction and damage that would be caused to health and the economy. So, in the light of these new social rules and possible penalties, will people do as they are told? It appears that many are carrying on as normal, thinking maybe that the rules do not apply to them.
One day last week, I was climbing up a very steep, rocky mountain path in the Lake District. A young couple were coming towards me so I stopped and said to them, ‘I will social distance on the edge of this cliff and let you go by.’ The young man answered, ‘Covid-19 will not beat me!’ and carried on as normal, oblivious to the danger that I was in. Is that arrogance, rebellion, presumption or plain disobedience?
There is some chaos and confusion as the four nations within the United Kingdom each have different variants of similar rules which can cause people to misunderstand and not to have clarity of the situation. ‘I didn’t know’ .... is often the cry when a law or rule has been broken, but can anyone genuinely and truthfully say that today? Even if that were true, it is also well known that ‘ignorance is no defence’.
The Bible is the Lord God Almighty’s book of love and instruction for the universe and people whom He created. In it, He tells us very clearly that our sin and our disobedience of His ways and instructions of how we should live, cause horrendous problems in all areas of society ~ socially, physically, financially, geographically, politically etc. as well as bringing an eternal, disastrous separation from Him,
“Your iniquities have separated you from your God;
your sins have hidden His face from you so that He will not hear.”
Millions of men and women worldwide today are either ignorant of the basic truths of the Christian faith or have decided to ignore the truth and live their lives separated from God. As a people, we have gone our own, selfish way like delinquent children, disobeying the Maker’s instructions on how to live and enjoy the planet He designed and created, in harmony with Him.
As we look around the increasing chaos and difficulties that face us worldwide, it is evident and obvious that we are experiencing the result ... it is a simple case of ‘cause and effect’. People are telling us that we must do something before it is too late. They say we are getting ever closer to the point of no return when the world around us will be irretrievably damaged.
But God tells us clearly that man will not and cannot solve the problems without turning to Him and asking for His help. And the wonderful truth contained within the Christian faith as revealed by the Lord God in His Word, the Bible, is that there is good news, that there is hope, that there is an answer.
For God Himself has already stepped into the chaos of this world caused by man’s sin, rebellion and disobedience, in the form of His only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
“God demonstrated His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Jesus died for us”
“God loved the world so much ... He gave His only Son
... Who died in our place ... so we might be reconciled to God”
Today, there will be many who ignore and disobey the lockdown rules and will incur the wrath and punishment of the Government, but that will be nothing, compared with those who continue to break the loving and gracious rules of the Lord God Almighty. But forgiveness, reconciliation to our loving Heavenly Father and life eternal, are available to all who humbly turn back to the Lord.
Ignorance is no excuse ... and it is eternally dangerous to ignore what God clearly says.
Ron Brickman