The Natural State of Things

Yesterday I read a news article from Brookhaven, MS about an 85 year old lady who went to Fred's Dollar Store. She was in her car, in a handicapped space, when two males around 20 years old approached her and demanded her purse. The lady gave them the purse and then the two men shot her 4 times at close range. I am sure she posed a very big threat to these two young men that they had to do this terrible act to her. Amazingly, thanks to God she has survived thus far and is reported to be recovering from this crime.
Sadly, this story line is far to common this day and age. All you have to do is turn on the news and you will hear how someone shot another person because their drink spilled on them or another person called shotgun before the other. ( These are true. You can search The Clarion Ledger for the story) As I was doing a Bible study on the State of Man I realized that this probably should not be shocking at all. Genesis 6:5 says that the Lord saw how great man's wickedness on earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. There are many other scriptures that say basically say the same thing. From the moment that we were born, our hearts are naturally inclined towards sin. David, in Psalms 51:5 says "surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me." David sums up the state of man pretty well.
So, when I hear of these stories in the news my tendency is to be shocked at what is going on around us but I wonder if this is just man, in the absence of God in our day, reverting to his natural tendencies of sin and evil. I guess I shouldn't wonder because this is what the Bible says is going on. Today, Jesus and Christianity are being turned into a bad thing by our politicians and other organizations. People have no love for Christ nor see any need for Him. We are under attack and the gospel is becoming harder to proclaim. In the absence of truth their is only evil left to fill the vacuum. The book of 2d Timothy gives a good description of the state of man in the last days. Read this passage and decide for yourself if this sounds like our times, "people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, with out self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God." That about sums it up to me.
This makes it more clear the widespread need for the gospel. If only we could reach the world for Christ, He can change the hearts of man. When a person is put under conviction of the Holy Spirit and gives their life to God, He will begin a change in their life and they will no longer want to sin. They begin a process of sanctification and whip the evil desire of their heart into submission. 1 John 3:9 states, "no one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he can not go on sinning." We will still sin but for this is the natural state of man, but we will have the power of the Holy Spirit to fight against our flesh daily. If you stumble today, resolve yourself to not make the same mistake tomorrow and God will help you beat the temptation.
In summary, we can look at our world today and see how terrible men are. It is a world filled with hate for God and each other. But we can always remember that "greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world." We are on the winning team and we must do all we can to let others know before time is up. We serve a powerful and living God! Have a great day!