Daily Devotions: Street Talkers

Joshua 1:8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

My wife Evelyn and I were gone for a couple of days this week. We went to one of our favorite cities – Asheville, North Carolina. We enjoy going there and walking in the downtown area. We love looking at the architecture of the buildings, walking along the sidewalks, and seeing the amazing artworks, galleries, and creativity that Asheville has to offer.

But there’s also a “weird” side to the town that just astonishes us and yesterday was no exception. As we were walking up the hill to some of the wee bistros at the top of Patton Ave, we noticed a street vendor and a driver were having a conversation. The driver’s car was stopped at a red light and both people seemed to know each other.

“I haven’t seen you in a while, “said the vendor. “Where have you been?”

In a loud voice, the woman driver answered, “Oh my boyfriend put me in jail for a while. I just got out this week.”

Evelyn and I looked at each other incredulously. This unknown woman was letting everyone know that she had been in jail and didn’t seem to mind who knew. Only in Asheville, I guess.

At one time, we were known to be People of the Book. We tried to live our lives and mold our society on good old fashioned Biblical principles. Now it seems that people no longer live by God’s rules and as the years go past, we become more brazen about our sinful ways and more boastful about breaking the rules.

I worry about the world that our kids are going up in. There’s seems to be no boundaries, no common rules, and no order or decency. The world is becoming more hostile, disloyal, and unfriendly. People no longer live by the Book, only by the rules that they write for themselves.

The world needs true Christian people and our next generation desperately needs faithful Christian leaders. I hope and pray that God will graciously allow them to be raised up amongst them.

Prayer: Lord God, we have carelessly set aside our beliefs and allowed our society to abandon its allegiance to You. We have corrupted our values and been led astray by our own willful and harmful desires. Forgive us, Lord, for not heeding Your words or ways. Raise up strong leaders like Joshua of old, who can help our children and children’s children return to the Promised Land of faith, hope, and love. In Christ’s Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.