John also publicly criticized Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee, for marrying Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for many other wrongs he had done. 20 So Herod put John in prison, adding this sin to his many others. (Luke 3:19-20 NLT)
Luke does a little fast forward with these words and gives us a glimpse ahead to something that would happen later. John not only called the people to repent. He called the governmental leaders to repent, too. Herod Antipas, one of Herod the Great's sons, did not like to be called out for his adultery and put John into prison.
God judged the kings of Israel and Judah by how they lived and how they ruled. Did they live a moral life and do obey God's commands or did they live an immoral life and disobey God's commands. I think we need to use those same standards with our elected officials. When they disobey God and hear His call to repent, we need to forgive them. When they don't repent, we need to hold them accountable.
Christians need to stand up for each and every human life from conception to death. Both abortion as a form of birth control and mercy killing are wrong. We need to hold onto God's definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman for life. Any other arrangements between two people are against God's design. We are thankful that God created us male and female.
But that does not mean we can disrespect those who don't agree with God's design for life or live contrary to God's Word. God loves everyone. We should too. Jesus died on the cross to forgive us all. We need to respect everyone because they have been given life by God, speak the truth to them in love and pray that God will work in their lives.
Doing these things does not come easily. It is too easy to go along to get along. But we need to fast forward to the end of this week when we remember Jesus' death on the cross to pay for our sins and celebrate Easter when Jesus rose from the dead to give us forgiveness and life. Jesus has already won the ultimate victory over sin and death for us. Looking ahead we know that nothing can separate us from God's love. We must obey God, not people in power.
Luke does a little fast forward with these words and gives us a glimpse ahead to something that would happen later. John not only called the people to repent. He called the governmental leaders to repent, too. Herod Antipas, one of Herod the Great's sons, did not like to be called out for his adultery and put John into prison.
God judged the kings of Israel and Judah by how they lived and how they ruled. Did they live a moral life and do obey God's commands or did they live an immoral life and disobey God's commands. I think we need to use those same standards with our elected officials. When they disobey God and hear His call to repent, we need to forgive them. When they don't repent, we need to hold them accountable.
Christians need to stand up for each and every human life from conception to death. Both abortion as a form of birth control and mercy killing are wrong. We need to hold onto God's definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman for life. Any other arrangements between two people are against God's design. We are thankful that God created us male and female.
But that does not mean we can disrespect those who don't agree with God's design for life or live contrary to God's Word. God loves everyone. We should too. Jesus died on the cross to forgive us all. We need to respect everyone because they have been given life by God, speak the truth to them in love and pray that God will work in their lives.
Doing these things does not come easily. It is too easy to go along to get along. But we need to fast forward to the end of this week when we remember Jesus' death on the cross to pay for our sins and celebrate Easter when Jesus rose from the dead to give us forgiveness and life. Jesus has already won the ultimate victory over sin and death for us. Looking ahead we know that nothing can separate us from God's love. We must obey God, not people in power.
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