Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for America is that they might be saved. This was the Apostle Paul's prayer for Israel as found in Romans 10:1. I've obviously changed "Israel" to "America" here to reflect the burden of my own heart. (Please note that I'm in no way trying to change Scripture here, which is why I italicized the word. I'm simply trying to show that, as Paul was burdened for his nation, so am I burdened for mine.) I was deeply disappointed by last week's election results, but I cannot say that I was surprised. There's a part of me that watched in disbelief as the results unfolded. While my mind screamed "how can the majority of our country vote for a man whose policies have so obviously failed, who has driven such a wedge in our country, and who stands up for sin and against what is good?" my heart knew the answer. It's found in Romans 1:28: "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient." If you'll read the verses leading up to this one, you'll find that they have "America" written all over them. These verses speak of how, when the people knew God, they didn't glorify Him as God, but became lifted up with pride in themselves, professing themselves to be wise. Does this sound like many of our educated crowd today, who by and large deny God? They then changed the incorruptible image of God into images like unto man, birds, and beasts, and began to worship the creature more than the Creator. Does this remind anyone of the environmentalists groups of today? It was from there that they got into homosexuality. It seems needless for me to point out that this is a huge issue today. So to me, these verses paint a perfect picture of what's been going on in America.
So what, then, is a reprobate mind? Well, the Webster's 1913 dictionary defines "reprobate" as "abandoned to punishment; hence, morally abandoned and lost; given up to vice; depraved." That's an ugly thought when you think that it's referring to one's mind. But the verse says that it was God that gave them over to the reprobate mind. Why? Because they "did not like to retain God in their knowledge." Wow, does that sound like our country or what? For as long as I can remember, and I'm sure even before I was born, there have been those who have been fighting to remove God out of anything and everything possible, and greatly succeeding at that. They've tried to remove Him from our schools, our legal system, our government, our money, the pledge, even Christmas. And the list goes on and on. And so, I believe, God has given them over to a reprobate mind. One of the consequences of the reprobate mind is to be "without understanding." Do you ever wonder how some people can think in a certain way? There are times when I've just had to shake my head at the thinking of some people. Some things are secular issues, such as trying to spend your way out of debt. How is it that anyone can even think that that makes sense? I believe that such skewed thinking is attributable to the reprobate mind. Then there are those issues that the world calls social issues. I call them spiritual issues, because the Bible has clear teaching about them. How is it that a woman can go to a "doctor" and have him murder her unborn child? Because of a reprobate mind. How is it that there are those who will fight against the death penalty for murderers and rapists, but call the murder of the innocent unborn a "choice"? It's because of the reprobate mind. How is it that homosexuality is praised and called an alternate lifestyle, when the Bible clearly calls it "vile" and "unseemly"? The answer, again, is the reprobate mind. If you'll read to the end of Romans chapter 1, you'll see the end result of the reprobate mind, and it isn't pretty, and yet I believe that we're seeing it today. Fornication, covetousness, full of envy, murder, haters of God, disobedient to parents, and without natural affection are just a few of the repercussions. Can we not see all of these things going on around us? I know that it looks terribly bleak and dismal. What, then, can we do? I'll refer you back to my opening sentence. We can, and must, pray for the salvation of America.
