F is for FALL

[This is the MILLERWRITES contribution to the 2012 Blogging A to Z April Challenge  Here is my INTRODUCTION to this particular series, and an opportunity for you to influence which alphabetically aligned weird words I will comment on this month.  THANK YOU for stopping by!]

Or should I say FELL?  Either way, past or present, this is our reality.  The Bible says we live in a 'FALLEN' world.  Yes it's generally good to put a positive spin on the other side of the face of the coin and fill the glass on the other hand half full...or something like that.  But even a look at only one statistic settles the matter.  The death rate among humans is 100%.  The only reason our bodies die is that they are ruined by the FALL.

Given this true state of things, I am actually thankful that we do die! In my 50s now and starting to notice my joints more and more often, and fully realizing that I can not do everything I want to do as well or as often as I used to, it is more apparent that this downhill slide will only continue.  I would not want to stay on this deepening trail for any more than another 50 years at the most!

But beyond that decline, I have noticed that the attitude and the character a person settles into in their early years hardly ever changes for the better, but generally gets worse!  A profane young man becomes an absolute (and unaware) foul mouthed nightmare.  An early smoker seldom overcomes the addiction but readily becomes a chain smoker.  Being immersed young in pornography ends grossly with that dirty old man in the home who all the nurses despise and avoid.  And the angry complainer finally just will not quit 'bitchin' because she can never recognize any good thing even right in her lap.  What little habit might you have now, that if it grows over time will become a monster?

One of the tenets of the Gospel is that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."  And this is the hinge point where most people turn away from the salvation offered by God ANYWAY.  It is this resistance to acknowledging the personal sinfulness which is part and parcel of that long ago FALL of man, that keeps people on the downhill spiral.

Without admitting the truth, usually by ascribing to some form of humanity-acclaiming philosophy based on other unproven humanity-excusing concepts, there is no redemptive hope.  Look at your newspaper or listen to the news, and tell me that we who were indeed made in God's image and still show vestiges of His nature, are not more bad than good; that, without His intervention, we are not more likely to keep digging ourselves into a deeper and deeper hole.

Around the world, there is always one more form of desperate trouble after another growing and threatening and reaching into your world.  But it really started with you and me anyway.  We individuals are the FALLEN, and individually, we must repent before God.  Paul tells us in Romans 12 that God has provided a way of escape!

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Humble Service in the Body of Christ 3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment  (2,3)