It Matters Not

“Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them” 

—Romans 1:32.

Man, in his natural state, hates God. He has no desire for God, because man wants to be his own God, to do whatever it is he wants to do. And our natural states are so corrupt that we not only condemn ourselves, we bring others down with us.

Several years ago, I read a book entitled “Energizers” by Nate Adams. He wrote about a time when he put a roach trap, called a roach motel, in the corner of his house or apartment to catch some cockroaches. He went to check on it after a couple of days and noticed that the trap had done its job and had caught a few cockroaches. He decided to leave it there a couple more days to see if it would catch a few more cockroaches and was surprised to see that it did. As a matter of fact, it started to fill up. After leaving it for several more days, he noticed it filled up to the point where roaches were crawling on top of other dead roaches to get the bait, thus dying themselves. Surprised to see how the roaches filled the motel at the price of their own death, he couldn’t believe that the doomed roaches didn’t warn others from coming in to their deaths. Instead, the dead roaches kept multiplying.

Adams' roach problem ended up illustrating this passage. Sinners sin and will continue to do so until the day that they die. And not only that, but rather than warn others about their sin, as repentant sinners do (cf. Psalm 51:23), they stay in their deadly sinful state, giving approval to others who are doing the same thing! In other words, rather than repent, they invite others to participate with them and then celebrate the fact!

We must not be like that! For man will continue on sinning, exalting that which is an abomination in the sight of God. But for the Christian it matters not. Man, no matter how hard he tries and no matter how many he gets to join with him in his sin conspiracy, will fail. It doesn’t matter what man does, what Hollywood values, what politicians try to legislate—nothing changes God’s Word. As Jesus said, “Heaven and earth willpass away, but My words will not pass away”—Matthew 24:35. Nothing can erase or change God’s Word. One might as well try to dry up the ocean with a roll of paper towels, or extinguish the sun with a water pistol. It’s futile to even try.

The only remedy is to embrace the one true Son of God, to look to Him and to Him alone for direction and purpose. He is the only one who conquered the grave; it is only through Him that we truly can have life—and discover the purpose for which God made us. He is the reason for our hope, and He is the one in whom are all of the mysteries of the universe. He is the only one who matters—because He alone is God.

May God enable each one of us to look not to the world for approval, nor be shaken by that which man exalts. May we all rest in the knowledge and truth that He is the Lord God—the King of the universe—and that He will come again to make all wrongs right, and set the universe straight, by and through the person of His Son—our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.