Few things shock a nation as much as the silencing of young lives before their time. The recent tragedy in Littleton, CO. sparks yet another round of frantic discussions and investigations. Lots of questions, no answers. Psychoanalysts will be questioned, psychiatrists consulted. Freud will surely rear his ugly head to see if little Jimmy’s third grade teacher is at fault for depriving him of milk 15 years ago. When it’s all over, the same conclusions will be drawn – we need more gun control and more regulations. Hardly anyone will broach the real issue: what’s needed is a change of heart.
The tragedy in Colorado is most likely not due to a lack of existing controls and regulations. More tiresome analysis and stricter rules are not the answer. The lack of proper training of the heart of our young people is the culprit. You cannot change a person’s heart by controlling his actions. It’s like applying a fresh coat of paint to an old car with a burned out engine and then declaring, “Well she oughta run fine now!” The old engine has to go. Thoughts are the seeds of actions – plant good ones and the tree will grow straight.
So what sorts of thoughts run through the minds of our young people these days? When was the last time you heard a group of teens hanging around and discussing how to believe God to get answers to prayer or how they can hardly wait for the return of Christ? You want to bring in more laws to solve the problems of our troubled youth – how about bringing God’s laws into their minds through regular Bible teaching? But instead we continue to snicker at the never-ending stories of people falling asleep in Church or the thought of compulsory Biblical teaching in our schools. One certainly wouldn’t want to offend those who are not Christian, so we choose to offend God instead.
Maybe if kids heard their parents talk about God’s Word enough, they’d have a chance of some truth sinking into their young hearts. Do parents even realize that the responsibility to teach their children the truth falls on their shoulders – not on Churches or the school system?
Instead of upholding a God-given charge, parents continue to renege on their fundamental responsibilities every day. Intelligent adults continue to make a mockery of marriage and the family – relationships that God instituted. Broken homes, broken promises, broken lives. Children have little or no direction and even less teaching of the truth. Added together and you have the recipe for minds that indiscriminately follow after bad influences.
Take a quick glance through the Gospels and note how many times Jesus Christ dealt with supernatural evil that controlled the minds of people. I don’t see him appealing to the Roman authorities to change the laws of the land so those poor unfortunates would have a better chance. But we’re so advanced these days that we don’t even consider the possibility of such evil. Take a close look at Colorado and think again. Do you think times are any different today? The only thing that could help those people who came to Jesus Christ was the truth and power of God. Sound minds and lives result only through sound teaching.
For once, let’s stop trying to whitewash a fence that is in dire need of new footings. Find the time to reset the concrete of truth that is sadly lacking. Anything else will just prove to be poor quality veneer that is sure to fade with the next passing storm. Want to limit the probability of another Colorado? – put God’s Word back into the hearts and minds of our nation – youths and adults alike. Then we’ve got a chance.
Psalm 119:133
“Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.”