God's Cancel Culture

Daily Reading: Ezekiel 33

As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel? (Ezekiel 33.11)

Devotional Thought: Jack Phillips, the Christian owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, is now facing his third lawsuit for refusing to bake a cake that communicates a message that is contrary to his Christian beliefs.  This lawsuit "seeks damages, fines, and attorney fees which threaten to inflict further financial damage on Phillips and his business."  The person bringing the lawsuit said that if Phillips won the case for any reason, they would be right back the very next day, to call and request another cake and sue Phillips again.  Phillip's attorney characterizes the lawsuit as an example of how the justice system is being "weaponized ... as an arm of cancel culture.  It’s being used to ruin people with whom one disagrees, and Jack has been targeted and harassed relentlessly for almost a decade now, simply because he won’t express a message that violates his convictions,” she said.

Cancel culture seeks to inflict maximum and permanent damage on all those who do not conform to the current view of political correctness.  They delight in "the death of the wicked."  The only acceptable end to them is the "death" of all opposing views.  And the sins of the past - whether preserved in tweets, posts, or quotes - will always be remembered.

God, however, has "no pleasure in the death of the wicked."  As a matter of fact, in God's cancel culture the only thing that is cancelled is our guilt and sin: "And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross" (Colossians 2.13-14).

I, for one, prefer God's cancel culture!

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for cancelling my sins, nailing them to the cross.  You have thrown my sins into the depth of the sea... removing them from me as far as the east is from the west - never to be remembered against me again!  Amen!

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 46.1-7

1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,

3 though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.

5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns.

6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts.

7 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah