Bring Back The Days Of Yea And Nay

Times They Are a-Changin’ is a song recorded in 1964 by Bob Dylan. It came to mind as I thought about the direction of the world in this new decade, and it well could be the anthem of the day. As we are rapidly witnessing, 2010 is destined to be a decade of change, but is it a good thing?

It seems like every day there is some thing or some ideal or some just plain old common sense mores that have flown the coop. What was once considered inappropriate conversation is now acceptable in the public arena. What was once known to be bad conduct that most frowned on is now encouraged behavior. Those who live a life strongly condemned in the Holy Scriptures we are now told to tolerate as just having “another lifestyle” or “preference.”

There seems to be a distinct lack of propriety. Married folks who have found another lover, or series of lovers, are no longer referred to as “adulterers.” They now are said to have an addiction, so off they go to rehab to be ‘cured’. We see it today in almost epidemic proportions…first one celebrity and then another runs to rehab, after they are caught.

Where in all of this is the conscience? Where is the taking of responsibility for wrong doing? And have some in the Body of Christ bought into this, taking the mindset of society that sin is not sin but a sickness one recovers from? In the spirit of being ‘politically correct,’ I fear that a few may be losing the definite line of separation between right and wrong that the Scriptures so clearly make.

A friend’s daughter sings the old song, Grandpa, Tell Me ‘bout the Good Ole Days, and I love this line..

Grandpa, take me back to yesterday, when the line between right and wrong wasn’t quite so hazy.

Sometimes it seems that way, doesn’t it? People can’t seem to define just what is right and wrong anymore. It seems to me that they can no longer determine black from white because it is clouded over with popular opinion and personal conviction, causing everything in its path to have a hazy look to it. Consequently, we have folks who walk around in a gray fog of uncertainty.

I don’t mean to sound like Grandma Moses, but when I was a young’un, there were just things we did and didn’t do…not because the Scriptures necessarily spelled it out, or because the pastor stood over us with a baseball bat, demanding this and that. I just knew, even as an unsaved child, a thing was right or it was wrong.

Today we must be up on our hermeneutics…who was the writer speaking to in the verses? Was it cultural and not applicable to us today? And let’s not forget the Greek and Hebrew…

But is God pleased? Have we gained anything? Does enlightenment mean we tear down, or does Light given add to Light possessed?

We are encouraged to back political policies which run counter to our beliefs, and move on into the 21st century, for “the times they are a-changin’!” But have we asked ourselves, “Is God pleased in my political views? Have I placed party line over biblical principle?”

Even as pertains to doctrine we find the uncertainty rising. Instead of taking the Word of God for what it says, folks will dissect every word, examining every phrase, debating every issue. Study to show thyself approved is scriptural, but when the study causes us doubt and brings contention, we have to ask again, “Is God pleased?”

I would be the last one to speak against study and research…it has been my mainstay for many years now. And the Word declares that we should be “ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear (I Peter 3:15).

However, we must be careful that on our journey for more understanding, we do not lose our way and become shipwrecked. The Way of holiness of heart and life is still right, regardless of the wind blowing another way.

It is my desire today to admonish all who will read this post to not be discouraged. People will fall away, but there are zillions of God-fearing men and women, boys and girls, who have not bowed their knee to indifference or spiritual deception.

As we move ahead in the spirit of progress, let us hold fast to that which brought us over…

Let us bring back the days of yea and nay, when a person’s word was their bond. If someone said they were going to do something, only death would keep them from it. Even sinner men knew the power of a handshake in agreement. It was a contract that was binding, for their integrity was EVERYTHING.

Let us bring back the days of yea and nay, when commitment to marriage, family, friend, and job meant something that mirrored our commitment to the Savior…the days when a vow before God was a sacred thing.

Let us bring back the days of yea and nay, when we remembered who we were and why we are here.

Let us bring back the days of yea and nay, when we stood together as a Body, regardless of view. There was a time that brother in the Lord didn’t speak against a brother. The Blood line meant EVERYTHING, and folks wouldn’t cross it to merely espouse a conviction.

Allow me to encourage you today…

Let us be slow to speak, unless it is a good word. Let us think the best before we would the worst, make a vow and keep it, extend love in the face of adversity, and let our word mean something.

Let us not be easily shaken by what we see and hear. This is the hour when everything that can be shaken, will be shaken, but we cannot allow ourselves to be moved by the events and issues of the day.

Let us give because the spirit of giving is on us and not because we have a secret agenda.

Let us live honorably, not raising one hand to the Lord while hiding the other behind our back in deception.

Let us remember that we can’t wait for others to bring back the days of yea and nay. Let it begin with me. Let it begin with you.

And let us remember the power of one…