78 GUILTY PEOPLE F O O T ================================
- H O L D
READING
78 GUILTY PEOPLE
PRAY Help me to listen carefully for your voice through the Scriptures, righteous Lord. —————————————————————- READ Romans 1:18-32. —————————————————————- THINK What does this passage tell us about people who are rebelling against God. Try to list at least eight things. —————————————————————- FOCUS Some mistakes are not very serious. Others are disastrous. A nought too many – and the whole calculation is wrong. Use salt instead of sugar and even the best mixed cake tastes horrible. In human life there is one basic error – refusing to take God seriously. Make this mistake – commit this sin – and everything goes wrong. WORSHIPPING IDOLS (23). God has revealed himself in the wonderful world which he created – just as an artist can be identified by his ‘style’. In particular, he shows ‘his eternal power and his divine nature’ (20, GNB). But people have missed the point, and worship idols or other substitutes for God. Can you suggest some ‘idols’ which people worship today? FILLED WITH WICKEDNESS (29). If we have to sum up the ‘daily news’ in a few words, what better than ‘jealousy, murder, fighting, deceit, and malice’? And this is exactly how the Good News Bible translates part of verse 29. Why do men and women choose to do such destructive things? Why is there so much violence, so much injustice, so much hate? Paul makes it quite clear. People ‘exchange the truth about God for a lie’ (25). HEADING FOR TROUBLE. ‘God had given them over . . . ‘ (24.26.28), that is he lets people have their own way. He treats us as responsible beings, and allows us to reap the consequences of our own decisions. People like to think that faith in God is not very important. But individuals or nations that turn their backs on God are heading for trouble. —————————————————————- PRAY Bring the needs of your nation before God. Pray for its leaders by name.