Not A Day Goes By

Not a Day Goes By

Not a day goes by that I don’t hear a story that makes me shake my head in disbelief at the gone-wrongness of the world around me.

Like the story of the United States Air Force Academy cadet who posted a Bible verse on the whiteboard of his dorm room door and started a firestorm.

He wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me” (Galatians 2:20, ESV).

The verse was not up for long before the cadet was asked to remove it. Apparently, it deeply offended some students and faculty, who then reported it to a human rights organization, which filed a complaint. An academy official ordered the student to remove the “offensive” message; he did so. But the representative of the organization that complained insisted that removing it was not enough; the cadet must be punished.

Not a day goes by that I don’t see increasing hostility to persons of faith—particularly the Christian faith, which is often described (as it was in this case) as fundamentalist extremism. I’m not sure I know what a fundamentalist is, although I suspect these same objectors would be quite willing to describe me as one. And extremist? Well, perhaps. But not in the way the critics intend. It is extreme to say, as Paul did, that the man he once had been was no more and that in his place Christ dwelt. To say that his old passions had died and been replaced by new ones. Especially in a world bent on denying or perverting the truth of the gospel and insisting every other idea be protected while only one is abused.

Not a day goes by that I don’t breathe thanks to God for his promises or praise him for his provision. Not a day goes by that I don’t believe in his glorious return to judge the living and the dead and to rule and reign in righteousness. A lot is wrong with us, but still he loves us. And not a day goes by that his mercy is not made clear somehow, somewhere. Look for it today.

Let your unfailing love and faithfulness always protect me.

Psalm 40:11