There is a very old expression, "May you live in interesting times". At first glance it may appear to be a kind of well wishing but in point of fact it was considered a curse. Robert (Bobby) Kennedy used it in a June 1966 speech that he gave in Cape Town South Africa. Kennedy said:

There is a Chinese curse which says 'May he live in interesting times.' Like it or not we live in interesting times. They are times of danger and uncertainty; but they are also the most creative of any time in the history of mankind.

You can hear Kennedy speak those words here:

Kennedy became part of the interesting times that he was referring to; he was assassinated exactly 2 years later.

The United States, following a very consequential election, is living in more and more interesting times. The country is more divided than it has been for over 150 years. Passions are running high on both sides of the political spectrum, and both sides are gripping tightly to their juxtaposed and irreconcilable positions. There seems to be little mood to find a middle ground and the threat of violence has grown greatly this year.

I must confess that I too find myself in no mood for compromise believing that the country is at a moment where it either defends the nation as it was conceived and founded, or watch as it is dramatically altered from what it was imagined to be. I wonder where all this will end, and how it will end, but I don't see a happy outcome no matter which fork in the road we go down; the country is simply too divided.

The least compromiser of all is God Almighty. The Bible teaches us that His ways are unchanging, He does NOT change his mind, He does not adapt to us. Human beings are told in the Bible that we either embrace God's ways and do as He commands or we end up going our own way. Biblical history is full of the stories of men who have gone their own way, rejecting God's way, and in the end the story is always the same and not a happy outcome for man.

The second important truth that the Bible teaches us, after the fact that God is our creator, is that man is a fallen creature. Man has sinned against God and man is separated from God by that sin. You will find that story right at the beginning of the Bible:

Genesis 2:15-17 (New American Standard Bible)

Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and tend it. The Lord God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may freely eat; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for on the day that you eat from it you will certainly die."

You can read further about the fall of man here.

To summarize, man did exactly what God told him not to do and man became estranged from God. God did not change, man changed; man became a sinner.

Sin not only divides us from God it divides us from each other. Increasingly those who embrace the Bible and it's teachings are now considered "taboo"; people despised by modern society. This week I read with great interest this story,

From that article:

Among the organizations originally included were Planned Parenthood, The Trevor Project, Girls Who Code, and World Central Kitchen as well as a group called Exodus Cry. The organization, which purports to help combat sex trafficking, was founded by Benjamin Nolot, who has expressed virulent views on social media about abortion rights and gay marriage.

So the idea to help stop sex trafficking (a new kind of slavery) was deemed good, but because the founder of the group was opposed to abortion and gay marriage, Ms. McCarthy and HBO felt the need to apologize profusely and distance themselves from the group even though it shared their objective of trying to stop sex trafficking. So much for the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

As we now approach Christmas, and I reflect upon it, I suspect in the future that the negative connotations of saying "Merry Christmas" will return with a renewed passion. And why not, given the increasingly strident condemnation of those who embrace Biblical morality. Biblical morality is increasingly at odds with our culture's secular morality, sometimes called the new morality but which Bible believers re-label as the old immorality.

This all begs the question, why can't God just compromise? In fact many claim, including many from the mainstream Christian churches, that God is compromising. They say that God is OK with the new moral direction of the country. Really? I am afraid I don't see that as I read the Bible but please feel free to point out anything that I am missing in the sacred text.

On the other hand the same God who does not compromise has offered a solution to mans' problem of sin. And just to be clear, EVERY human being is considered by the Bible to be a sinner. If you are a Jew, the Bible says in Daniel:

Daniel 9:11 (New American Standard Bible)

Indeed, all Israel has violated Your Law and turned aside, not obeying Your voice; so the curse has gushed forth on us, along with the oath which is written in the Law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against Him.

If you are not a Jew, God makes his case against all of mankind here:

Romans 2:12 (New American Standard Bible)

For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law;

and sums it up here:

Romans 3:23 (New American Standard Bible)

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

From all of this I think we can distill two simple truths. God does not compromise and every human being is separated from God by sin. God has said that He must and will punish man for sin. I believe that God will do what He said He will do.

The solution that God offers to solve our problem is that God has sent someone to take that punishment intended for us, the punishment for sin that we ourselves deserve, and to take that punishment upon Himself. That person has said He will stand in our place. Who is that person? It is God's only begotten son, born of a virgin in a town called Bethlehem. His name is Jesus Christ. John the Baptist recognized God's solution:

John 1:29 (New American Standard Bible)

The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him, and *said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"

Salvation is a gift that God offers to all men. There is no one who the gift is not offered to. The catch is that the gift must be received. We must act to receive the gift. Here is the Apostle Peter explaining it:

Acts 2:38-40 (New American Standard Bible)

Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself." And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on urging them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation!"

Be saved from this perverse generation! Or put another way, be saved from these interesting times in which we live.

Note the first word that Peter speaks; he says "repent". If you are to obtain God's gift you must "repent". What does that mean? First, it means that you must agree with God and admit that you are a sinner. Repentance also means you must apologize for your sin, and express a desire to turn away from your sinfulness. If you do not repent, there is no gift. Once you have repented, you are in a place to accept the gift.

I don't know where our journey as a nation is taking us. I have no idea just how "interesting" our times are going to become. But I know our time here is relatively short, and I know where the journey takes me when this life is over. Jesus said:

John 14:2 (New American Standard Bible)

In My Father's house are many rooms; if that were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you.

This Christmas, I hope that you have a reservation in heaven. It's free, but you must have a reservation. If you don't have one, it's not to late to make a reservation by accepting the gift of Jesus Christ.