Thought for Today
Genesis 3:5 for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
Genesis 4:8 Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let us go out to the field." And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him.
Luke 10:27 "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself."
Jude 1:11 Woe to them! For they go the way of Cain, and abandon themselves to Balaam's error for the sake of gain, and perish in Korah's rebellion.
Shutdown – Day 3
I checked again this morning: The air is still turned on, the sun came up this morning, the Interstate was still a congested mess during rush hour. Everything’s ‘normal.’
I am not insensitive to the problems being caused by our government shutdown. There are people whose lives are being severely impacted by this shutdown. Many federal employees are now without pay; some federal employees will ultimately lose their jobs. Food insecurity in the U.S.A. was already a problem before the shutdown. The cessation of all federal support during the shutdown will only exacerbate the problem.
Our nation is currently undergoing numerous changes. Our government has undertaken an effort to reorder our economy and therefore the lives of us all. Such changes take time and incur major disruptions and reorganizations. The restructuring of our import tariffs has caused some instability in our supply chain. Thank goodness, so far, coffee was still on the shelves of our grocery yesterday when I did our weekly shopping. However, yesterday’s newspaper included an article about Starbuck’s closing of several locations in the greater Boston area!
One of the themes which has dominated my thinking as I age is that we never live in the world in which we were raised. My youth and young adulthood were during WWII, Korea and Viet Nam. Those conflicts are now being taught as ancient history, supplanted years ago by Iraq and Afghanistan. The clothing fashions, the music and almost every other aspect of life has changed since the decades of the 40s, 50s and 60s.
Life today is dominated by ‘devices.’ Computers, smartphones, smartwatches and even smart glasses are ubiquitous on our streets and in our homes. Sadly, injustice, violence, poverty and evil still abound. Not surprisingly, all of our modern technology has not corrected the wrong turn humanity took when Cain picked up that rock and killed his brother Abel. We cannot even plead ignorance. Genesis should have placed us all on the right path. Much later, God even sent God’s Son to remind us of what God had told our ancestors-in-the-faith generations earlier.
I was reminded of all of this yesterday, reading the devotional in These Days. Later, as I listened to and watched the news reports about current events, including the shutdown, I recalled reading, “The fabric of our world may be unraveling before us, and our circumstances may be overwhelming . . . “ (These Days, October 2, 2025)
I do not believe that fabric first woven by our Creator God is truly unraveling before us. I do believe reporting the news so that it sounds that way sells more advertising and brings in more revenue. I also believe that each successive generation does feel that the fabric of their world has unraveled. The sad truth is that the world of my youth and young adulthood has moved on. Life has changed. Technology has changed. People are still people. God’s children are still God’s children, even though they (we) sometimes act as though we have forgotten.
That author yesterday also wrote, “God’s sovereignty and our trust could be the thread that stitches our torn word back together again.” In closing, the author offered this prayer, “God, grant me unwavering trust in you during troubling, uncertain times.”
The times are often troubling, frequently uncertain. When they are, we need to remember Jesus’ promise, “Matthew 28:20 . . . And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." God did love the world; God still loves the world; we are never alone; Jesus is with us.
Stay safe, walk with Jesus, trust God,
Pastor Ray