© 2022 Don Pinson | [Download]
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If you have a fenced in yard, and all the sudden you notice there are animals trampling your flowers and destroying your vegetable garden, you know there’s something wrong with your fence. So you look for where the fence is broken, where it has a gap, and you fix it. To stop the flow of intruders into your property, you must repair the gap in your fence.
God uses this very picture in the Bible to describe what happens when His people start to disobey Him. God evidently places a “hedge” of protection (Isaiah 5:1-7) around each individual at birth. As we grow in age and size we learn from parents, teachers and others about life. If what we learn is the truth as revealed in the Bible, and we choose to consistently obey that truth, the “hedge” stays up. But if what we learn either is not the truth, or if we choose to disobey the truth, then our “hedge” of protection starts to break down. The more disobedience there is to God’s Word, the more our fence comes down; and the more satan and his evil spirits, who come to “kill, steal, and destroy,” (John 10:10) break into our lives. Thus, the destruction in our lives will, generally speaking, be in direct proportion to how much of God’s truth we know and are walking in. Generally speaking—and let’s leave the exceptions to God—the Bible teaches that obedience brings blessing to the life; disobedience brings destruction. Life really is that simple—for both individuals and nations. The Bible says,
“Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments…the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God: Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country. Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks…The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face…” (Deuteronomy 28:1-7)
So let’s not kid ourselves: With drugs destroying so many of our children, and our nation’s economy in shambles, something is desperately wrong with most of our nation. Our hedge is broken down in a number of places. Let’s admit it.
So can it be fixed? Yes! God’s Word to the Jews through the prophet Ezekiel tells us how. Ezekiel writes:
“And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, say to her: “You are a land that is not cleansed…in the day of indignation.” The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured people…Her prophets…[told] lies for them.’” (Ezekiel 22:23-28)
God called His ministers to stop telling people that things were okay when they weren’t! He called them to speak the truth to the education, governmental, and economic systems as well as to individual families. Then he called His people to admit that they had believed lies. They were described by God to Ezekiel:
“And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.” (Ezekiel 22:30)
We “stand in the gap” when we speak the truth, and pray the truth for ourselves and others around us, including our nation as a whole.
Will you speak the truth and fast and pray like our Founders in America did in times of crisis? Later on, how will your children evaluate the way you live? How will God evaluate you?
Think about it; because if you don’t, someone else will do your thinking for you—and for your children! And you won’t like what that brings to you. I’m Don Pinson; this has been Think About It.