trembling without warning, the Children of
weeks since their leader, Moses, had climbed the
mountain, disappearing in the shrouded mountain-
top. Egypt and their slavery lay behind them. The
promise of a new land lay before them. But now it was
that miserable in between time. Something must be
done, they thought.
were very much still in chains. The
invisible God of deliverance and His
servant Moses were both absent from
their sight. Their boredom flowed into
restlessness which flowed into rebel-
lion. A calf of gold was made and this
visible, handcrafted god would go
before them to the Promised Land.
was forced to strike them down in one
fell blow. Moses could scarcely believe
what he saw. In an angry moment, he
dashed to pieces the newly crafted
stone tablets of the Ten Command-
ments. And amid the Marti Gras of
sin, he called out, "Who is on the
Lord's side?" The tribe of Levi stood
with him. They were God's allies in the
battle.
continue to woo those who would seek an easier way,
a deity defined by desire rather than by service. The
battle is joined between God and Satan, that great
enemy of souls. And again the cry goes out, "Who is
on the Lord's side?"
Savior. While a person may not be openly hostile
toward God and actually believe and accept that God
exists, that person remains an enemy until peace with
God is made. God's Word says, "The sinful mind is
hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor
can it do so" (Romans 8:7). There are no neutral par-
ties, no safe havens to avoid an alliance. Either you are
for the Lord or you are against Him.
First, in the things they love. God expects that we
loves fall into their proper place. But the enemy of
God loves many things and may even have a senti-
mental love for God, but He is pushed down in their
priorities. God will not share His supreme place with
any other.
out considering what His will is for that person's life.
that will tend to move the person
further away from Him.
will see life in a skewed way and that
will distort the events that occur and
the meaning they have. Imagine a
man who has spent all his life in a
cave with only the light of a dim
candle. That is normal to that per-
son and the way things should be
because that has been his view. But
then he suddenly is taken outside on
a bright sunny day. Rather than see-
ing this as a glorious moment, the
person would hide his eyes, rush
back inside the cave and so miss all
that his eyes were intended to
behold. The one who is not on the
Lord's side cannot properly view the
things of God and indeed, to him
they look strange. He will side
it is that despite our age we keep acquiring knowledge.
Despite how healthy we might be, we wish to be health-
ier. Despite how good a relationship might be we want
it to be stronger. The problem with sin, however, is that
its very presence is like a parasite that drains away any
chance at wholeness. Sin is an infection for which we
cannot find a cure. Except through Christ.
The sin has left its path of destruction. We have vol-
untarily enlisted in the ranks of the enemy. But we
want out. We want restoration. We want wholeness.
of the enemy. But we want out.