What Can the Righteous Do?

In the wake of continuing violence in our nation’s schools, we are left with unresolved questions as to the cause of such horrific assault against our young people. As Christians, it is important that we stand firmly on the bedrock of truth lest we be swept blindly into a debate centered on human wisdom. This is not a matter easily resolved and certainly not an issue that can be handled through the legislative process. This is about the heart and soul of our nation. Not many pundits are likely to mention the deterioration of the home as the chief cause of the social ills of our day. But, the question of David in the long ago is keenly relevant to our time. He asked, “If the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do?” (Psalms 11:3).

Things can be turned around one family at a time. It will not be an easy job; nor one that can be accomplished without the guidance and strength of the Lord. But, let’s face it; the American family is in tatters and in desperate need of healing. As a society, we are increasingly moving in the direction of secularism. We have, for the most part, removed God from our schools and government institutions. Are we now turning to the world for answers? While there may be things which can be done by those who make our laws, the events of the recent past is not a call for government deliverance but a call for national repentance. We need to get back to teaching what we need to teach in the home. In an online article posted at FortifyYourFaith.org, Dan Flournoy mentioned the following ten things we should be teaching our children. As we embellish upon these principles for the next several weeks, please consider the implementation of such teaching in your own family.

In the first place, we should teach our children that they are the special creation of the Lord. According to the Genesis record, God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth” (Gen. 1:26). Again, in Genesis 2:7, we learn that God “formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” Our children need to be impressed with the fact that they are the special creation of God. How does such teaching fall into line with the godless theory of atheistic evolution? Chance existence is the default teaching in schools forbidden to teach Creationism. Again, the deification of the material world is at odds with what the Bible teaches about the role of man in exercising wise stewardship over God’s creation. Most importantly, however, is the fact that we are created in the image of God. We are primarily spiritual beings who live in physical bodies for a short time but are intended to live on forever in the presence of our Creator. What better place to start than in turning the attention of our children in the direction of their Creator?