Sabbath Thought - We Don't Know How to Do That

We live in a time of great contradictions.  On one hand we are able to experience a time of unprecedented convenience and labor saving devices.  We have computers and other appliances that have eliminated the need for so much manual labor.  We have the ability to travel great distances for historically low costs and with quick speed.  We have the ability to communicate in near-instant time with phone, internet, text and other means.  We have more medical knowledge than at any other time of mankind's history.  We have access to food of such great variety and abundance.

On the other hand, social ills have grown to the point of not just undoing a nation, but the entire world.  Wars not only abound, but the weapons of war are now so advanced that very little life survives all-out war.  In spite of a United Nations charter seeking the willing and cooperative effort of world nations to deal with conflict in a peaceful way, we have never had a time of such great world conflict on political, economic, religious, or ethnic fronts.

With such great physical advances, why does mankind seem to be getting worse on every other front?  The humanists, great thinkers, and powerful leaders all believe that mankind can solve these problems - we just need enough money, enough time, enough resources, or the right people in charge.  Increasingly, the open secret among all of these people, is that they realize mankind cannot fix these problems.

Gus Speth is a well-known U.S. environmental lawyer and advocate, and there is a quote of his that has had a fairly wide circulation that sums up this recognition: "I used to think the top environmental problems were biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and climate change. I thought that with 30 years of good science we could address those problems.  But I was wrong.  The top environmental problems are selfishness, greed and apathy...and to deal with those we need a spiritual and cultural transformation - and we scientists don't know how to do that."

We could insert any social problem for "environmental problem" and the same conclusion would be reached.  Mankind's selfishness, greed and apathy are the core underlying issue for all other problems.  This should not be a surprise to anyone who has God's spirit.  The natural, human, carnal mind (apart from God) thinks it is going the right direction and doing the right thing, but that human course ends in physical and spiritual death (Proverbs 14:12, Romans 8:7-8).  It is not in man, naturally, to know what life is about and how to walk in truth, love and life (Jeremiah 10:23).

This will always be the case as long as mankind is eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  Mankind can achieve great things, but apart from God mankind is also capable of great evil.  This is mankind's history.  Romans 8:6 reminds us that to be spiritually minded is life and peace.  Christ explained in John 10:10 that He came so that mankind could have an abundant life - life as God intended for mankind.

We have access to that abundant life now.  With God's spirit dwelling in us we can overcome selfishness, greed and apathy, and as a consequence have the spiritual transformation necessary to have that abundant life (Romans 12:2).  The Sabbath day is a day of rest, but it is also a day to focus on the spiritual transformation God is working out in each of us.  He is working with us now to be kings and priests in His coming Kingdom (Revelation 1:6).  We will serve with Jesus Christ in showing the balance of mankind the answers to all of the questions of life (Revelation 20:4).  God is working with His people now to show the world that solving mankind's problems is not about money, time, resources, or the right people - it is about being transformed to have the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5).

We know how to do that.

I wish you a profitable and value filled Sabbath,

Dan Dowd

15 July, 2022