Most Sabbaths a bulletin is produced containing local announcements, the local calendar, and a Sabbath Thought. Most weeks the bulletin also contains news articles addressing current trends from around globe. The time and effort that goes into the bulletin is much appreciated.
In this week’s reflection for the Sabbath, I wanted to consider the current events portion of the bulletin. Consider some of the headlines:
ISIS HAS CAMPS ON THE U.S. BORDER, BUT OBAMA SAYS ‘RIGHT-WING EXTREMISTS’ ARE THE GREATEST TERROR THREAT
ISRAELI OFFICIALS: IRAN MASSIVELY RAMPING UP ARMING OF HEZBOLLAH IN PREPARATION FOR MAJOR ASSAULT ON ISRAEL
RUSSIA-IRAN MISSILE DEAL MAJOR THREAT TO MIDDLE EAST
DESPITE HIS ALL-OUT EFFORT TO DEFEAT ISLAMIC TERRORISM AND INSURGENCY, PRESIDENT SISI HAS YET TO ACHIEVE THE RESULTS NEEDED TO PREVENT THE COUNTRY SLIPPING BACK INTO ANARCHY AND CHAOS
THE EXTINCTION OF EASTERN CHRISTIANITY MAY FIGURE EUROPE’S OWN FUTURE
I cite these five headings, not because they stand out from others, but they are all similar in that not one of them is positive. Each one signals a negative trend in our world.
I know that there have been times when I have finished reading the weeks current events section, and the thought comes to mind, “What’s the point of going on? Every trend, every week is negative.” The reality is that our world is never going to be made right no matter what men do.
But the God who rules heaven and earth has the answers to the problems that plague mankind. It will take the direct intervention of Jesus Christ to bring malice and wickedness to an end.
Every Sabbath, we are reminded that our hope is not in this world but in the God who brought everything into being. He tells all people, "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it” (Exodus 20:8-11). God wants us to take a full day to consider that there is a God who is working out a wonderful plan to bring many sons to glory (Hebrews 2:10).
God’s plan is working every day of every week. The working of the plan never stops or is thwarted. It relentlessly moves forward.
So as we consider the weekly news, most of which is “bad”, our Creator reminds us through the Sabbath that we are His creation, He loves us, and He has great plans for us. In fact the regularity of the Sabbath is a reminder of what, “He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." So we may boldly say: "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?" (Hebrews 13:5-6)
Have a pleasant Sabbath,
Gary Smith
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