You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!
2 Timothy 3:1-5 (NLT)
If aliens from another plant were to research our planet’s culture based on social media and mainstream news outlets, what would they see? Do you think the majority of what they saw and heard would be positive or negative?
According to a study from the Pew Research Center, 65% of Americans believe that social media has a negative effect on our country and only 10% believe that it has a positive effect. Negative influences included misinformation, hate, harassment, and polarization. (64% of Americans say social media has a mostly negative effect on the way things are going in the U.S. today) A Cambridge study also discovered that negative posts get more engagement and are more likely to be shared than positive ones. (Negative social media posts get twice as much engagement, study finds.) Although our alien friends would see some positive posts, uplifting pictures, or funny cartoons, sadly most of what they would find would be negative. And their experience with mainstream news outlets would paint an even bleaker picture.
In the scripture text above, Paul warns young Timothy that in the last days (the days prior to the rapture and the tribulation), there would be difficult times that would be marked by several things. Do we see these today?
Self-centeredness, ungratefulness, and a general sense of entitlement
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The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement
Anger in the Age of Entitlement
Is the Internet Making You Meaner?
Focus on money over God, even in the church
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The 10 Richest Religions in the World
Is The Church Gradually Deviating From Its Primary Purpose?
Increased disobedience
Is Child Behavior Better or Worse Than It Was Years Ago?
Behavioral disorders in children are up 50%; what doctors say needs to change
Rejecting God and the Bible, compromising truth, and celebrating things the Bible calls sin
Half of U.S. Christians say casual sex between consenting adults is sometimes or always acceptable
Biblical Perspective on Homosexuality and Same-Sex Marriage
What’s wrong with celebrating sin in public?
Is Your Church Facing Spiritual Apathy?
The Bible warns against all of this in many places, but Paul spells it out very clearly in his letter to the Romans. Although this was written almost 2000 years ago, it clearly describes our culture today and should serve as a chilling warning.
But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.
Romans 1:18-31 (NLT)
Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.
So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.
Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy.
God will not tolerate the insolence of people who attempt to manipulate his Word and change his truth to justify sin. He will judge them for their own foolishness and hold them accountable for those who they have led astray.
In these times of darkness, fear, hatred, compromise, and sin, we need to focus on the truth of Jesus. In the end, God wins. In the end, every knee will bow to Jesus and acknowledge him as Lord.
I will end this devotional with the words of Peter the apostle.
The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.
2 Peter 3:9-15a (NLT, emphasis mine)
Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.
And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.
And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved.
Songs of Victory
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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