It does not take a rocket scientist to work out that we live in a very different world to our grandparents and great grandparents when in their day, a firm handshake or a word were binding contracts. In that world, most people never made a transaction without having money to cover the purchase. They preferred to live without, rather than go into enormous debt.

Not so long ago, young children could walk down their street without adult supervision and be safe and people could keep their cars’ motors running while they popped into their local stores to pay their bills. It was a time when the aged could leave their houses unlocked while they toiled in their big back yards and it was a time when a person who worked for an honest day’s wage could save up to buy a house.

I remember as a small child knowing every person in my street and addressing each one by name. On occasion, my mother sent me on my own, as a three year old, to the corner store with a short shopping list and money in a string bag. There was little fear of robbery, let alone child abduction, as such a thing was rare. There is no such freedom for our children today. There is no sense of safety for anyone standing by a broken-down car, waiting for the arrival of a mechanic of an automobile service. Yes, we leave our children and our grandchildren a very different world to live in.

I realize there may be still some small towns and villages where old fashion values and services still apply – where a responsible sense for community still exists. However, these towns were the ‘norm’ in a bygone Christian era where attending church each Sunday and recitation of the Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer in the public school was never an argument and certainly not an abomination for immigrants from an opposing culture and faith. Those who adopted a new country understood that in doing so, they adopted its culture and faith.

So what’s happened? Educators and civic leaders are telling our children and us that there is no right or wrong – that there are no absolutes in this life. In other words, if someone wants to drink himself into a stupor, it is okay as long as it doesn’t hurt anybody else. If a woman has an unplanned pregnancy and if she cannot accommodate in her future living arrangements her developing child, it is okay to terminate the pregnancy. After all, who wants to have an unwanted child, let alone be an unwanted child? It is really a win/win situation. In this world, if a spouse wants to pursue an extra-marital affair, that’s okay if the partner is oblivious to it. It can’t hurt them. Even so, what is so wrong with breaking covenant in a loveless marriage? ‘It’s not that we stopped caring, it’s just that we are heading in different directions,’ they echo. Is it wrong to be true to one’s self and come out of the closet – to announce our true sexual orientation? Is it that wrong to break up a conventional family for a same-sex union or maybe get gender-reassignment surgery? Whom is it hurting? No one! Above all else, let us be true to ourselves!

This is society’s sentiment today and it is a lie that comes directly from the pit of hell.

Jude, referring to the last days said in verse 18, ‘…there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. ⁽¹⁹⁾ These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.’

Proverbs 14 verse 12 says, ‘There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.’

The Apostle Paul, generally believed to be the writer of 1^st and 2^nd Thessalonians gave this warning to the saints in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 2 to 4 and 9 to 12:

‘Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God…

‘The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion that they should believe the lie that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.’

In 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 13 to 17, Paul exalts us to stay true in these deceitful times we live in:

‘But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

‘Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.

‘Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.’

I conclude by asking this: 'What are we to do with this world?' We find the answer in 1 John chapter 2 verse 15. ‘Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world (in other words, lusts after this world), the love of the Father is not in him.’

‘For all that is in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – is not of the Father but is of the world.
‘And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.’

_{1 John 2:16-17 (New King James Version)}

You can find Janelle’s book, Yellow Zone on her website: www.janelledyer.com or www.yellowzonebook.com.au.