The Spirit of...

## Spirit of the Times

Considering the activist spirits of the times, you find a long list of “so what’s”. Example: You protested the government over war in the 60’s. So what now? Is there no more war? One article says the Golden Age appeared to be dawning at the beginning of that decade. Another reads by the end of that decade, “community and consensus lay in tatters 1”. So many separate protest groups had spawned in American culture, the strong support beam that was our society was just a pile of splinters now. Difference? Division. The spirit of the times. Though some movements were for the better, how many made a lasting mark that mattered? A handful out of the hundreds. The new social distraction for the young energetic activists to be busy with in this generation is Global Warming, which had to be renamed “Climate Change”. Common textbook rhetoric asserts “extreme weather events and environmental changes including droughts, floods, epidemics, and earthquakes” demand human response! Distraction. Dissipation. The cares of this life.

“Sociology: The Core”, 8th edition , Michael Hughes. Carolyn J. Kroehler, published by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY, 10020, page 430

## Demanding Human Response

Something bigger than the spirit of your day demands human response. Jesus says a day is coming to everyone on the earth. No one will escape it! It is meeting with God to discuss what you did with the life He gave you. Dissipation means to “degrade further down”; “a squandering of money, energy, and resources”; a “complete disintegration”. Are the cares of your life completely squandering all you have to give? Is all your time and energy spent running kids from one sport to the next? Is all your money spent on toys, tech, tools, and traveling? Warning! If you’re attached to things that will cease to be, what will become of you? Luke 21:36 “But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” “Before” can also be translated “in front”, “with”, or “beside”. Standing before God without the Son of Man standing with you is like standing in the Supreme Court without a lawyer. Pray you stand alongside the Son of Man on that Day.

## Self-Check

A question to wonder is, “Who are the distractions coming from?” Who wants to keep you from God? Are the cares of your life consumed by the spirit of the times or the Spirit of God? Hint: God wouldn’t distract you from Himself.

## Wending the Way