AMERICA'S WAY BACK (6 OF 11)
by Roger Thomas
Scripture: 2 Chronicles 7:14
This content is part of a series.
America's Way Back (6 of 11)
Series: Patriotic and Special Occasions
Roger Thomas
2 Chronicles 7:14
Introduction: The Discovery Channel sometime ago carried the story of a group of spelunkers or cave explorers. When we lived in Rolla years ago, we used to go caving. Ours were short treks into the underground world. We might go for a half hour or so before the cave ended. We did find one three-story cave filled with spectacular rock formations. Our little caves were scary enough-the darkness, dampness, and bats-especially the bats! I can't imagine crawling on your belly for hours or diving into water to go under a rock wall and hope to emerge on the other side alive. That's what real cavers do.
The cavers on TV did something else very important that we never found necessary. They marked their trail. The dark underground passages came be confusing at best. In the darkness every passage looks alike. The explorers would leave rocks or markings to show the right path back out. In certain places, they would string a rope or fine line through the passage. To return to the surface, they merely followed the line or the marks back in the direction they had come.
There's a parable in there some place. It is easy to get lost in the darkness. We drift or wander from God. Finding our way back can be confusing. Wouldn't it be nice if someone marked the trail back for us? Our text-2 Chronicles 7:14-does just that. It marks the way back for those who have become lost in the darkness.
There's another important dimension to this text as well that is important for this time of the year. I am sure all of us are concerned about the drift of our nation. The older among us have witnessed lots of changes in our lifetimes, much of it not good.
Several years ago, William Bennett, one time US Secretary of Education, began to compile what he called The Index of Leading Cultural Indicators. Business people had long used economic statistics to track the well-being of our n ...
Series: Patriotic and Special Occasions
Roger Thomas
2 Chronicles 7:14
Introduction: The Discovery Channel sometime ago carried the story of a group of spelunkers or cave explorers. When we lived in Rolla years ago, we used to go caving. Ours were short treks into the underground world. We might go for a half hour or so before the cave ended. We did find one three-story cave filled with spectacular rock formations. Our little caves were scary enough-the darkness, dampness, and bats-especially the bats! I can't imagine crawling on your belly for hours or diving into water to go under a rock wall and hope to emerge on the other side alive. That's what real cavers do.
The cavers on TV did something else very important that we never found necessary. They marked their trail. The dark underground passages came be confusing at best. In the darkness every passage looks alike. The explorers would leave rocks or markings to show the right path back out. In certain places, they would string a rope or fine line through the passage. To return to the surface, they merely followed the line or the marks back in the direction they had come.
There's a parable in there some place. It is easy to get lost in the darkness. We drift or wander from God. Finding our way back can be confusing. Wouldn't it be nice if someone marked the trail back for us? Our text-2 Chronicles 7:14-does just that. It marks the way back for those who have become lost in the darkness.
There's another important dimension to this text as well that is important for this time of the year. I am sure all of us are concerned about the drift of our nation. The older among us have witnessed lots of changes in our lifetimes, much of it not good.
Several years ago, William Bennett, one time US Secretary of Education, began to compile what he called The Index of Leading Cultural Indicators. Business people had long used economic statistics to track the well-being of our n ...
There are 10485 characters in the full content. This excerpt only shows a 2000 character sample of the full content.
Price: $5.99 or 1 credit
