Who Will You Follow?

Bill Petite February 2 2018

It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in people.  PS 118:8

We live in a time, in this country, which most people have taken a side, politically. The hatred (not an exaggeration) runs deep between those who fall to the right and those who fall to the left, politically. I believe the news media plays a huge role in this. The left loves to cling on every word of CNN and MSNBC while the right believes Fox News is God's network of truth. All have their political slant, right and left. To strongly believe every word that is spoken on any of these outlets is foolish. I do believe they all feed the strong political divide in this country. I grew up in a time when we listened to Walter Cronkite and the Huntley/Brinkley Report. The former on CBS and the latter on NBC. Regardless of the individual's political stance, we never heard it that way. What we heard was the straight news, the truth.

The hatred is so glaring in this political divide; just read comments following an article about anything political. Sometimes it doesn't even have to be a political topic. I read an article today about an NFL running back and sure enough, in the comments, someone tossed in a political jab. So, it runs beyond the political arena.

It's sad to see people following after people or entities where there lies no hope at all. These politicians and political parties can offer absolutely no hope for what is most important. Regardless of whether people want to believe it or not, the only true hope for any person is salvation for the soul. Regardless of whether people want to believe or not, we are all born in sin and we need a savior to save us from this sin. That savior is Jesus....whether people believe it or not. And, just because someone doesn't believe any of this doesn't mean it is not true. Jesus offers us what any news outlet can't offer. Jesus offers us what any politician can't offer. Jesus offers us salvation and it's free. We confess our sin to Him, ask Him to forgive us and allow Him to come into our lives. There is no human being or media outlet which can provide this.

In Gen. 6:6, 'God was grieved in His heart' by the wickedness of mankind. Sometimes, when I think about this strong hatred for each other, I wonder if God doesn't feel that same way today. I know not every person will believe the truth of this salvation message. I know there will be those who will scoff at it and refuse to acknowledge the fact that God even exists and that is their own business and right as an American. But, a person must weigh the facts, consider and reason through them and then decide what is true, for them, and what is not. As a Christian and messenger of the gospel, I can't force anyone to believe and I wouldn't try. Each person has to decide who they will follow and what is true. Will it be the people in the media, the politicians, the celebrities who believe they are the absolute truth or will it be the savior of the world, Jesus Christ.

The back and forth arguing and haggling on these news networks and through social media is childish. To see grown adults acting like children on the playground is ridicules. Politicians taking sides and digging in to support their own pride, and not for the good of the American people, is very troubling. We are instructed by God's word to pray for these leaders and, believe me, they need a ton of prayer. It doesn't matter what side they are on, we need to pray for them.

One final thing; the United States is not God's chosen country. This country was founded by God fearing men who wanted religious liberty and that was their intention. But just because we live here doesn't mean we have our ticket punched for free entry into heaven. We still need to come to Jesus. The US doesn't have any special privileges over other countries of the world. We, Americans, individually, must come to Jesus and accept Him as our Savior by repenting and allowing Him to change us. The very end of time will be a time in which people of this world will sell out to and follow one man, the Anti-Christ. What I see today is a paving of the way for this to happen. People are so quick to jump on board a movement, political agenda or an anti-Christ type. At that very end time, there will be only two types of people (as it is today), those who follow Jesus and those who don't. For those who don't, they will follow the one world leader, the anti-Christ, a mere man, who will lead them to eternal destruction. It's not too late to know today who you are to follow, Jesus or just a mere human being, a man, a woman or a worldly movement. Do you belong to God or do you belong to this world? It's easy to know; just cry out to Jesus and He will respond. There is no hesitation, no out to lunch, He is right there waiting.

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave^[a] his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 

 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

“There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. JN 3:16-18