Belonging to a church that had over 55,000 in attendance on all campuses for Christmas and seeing thousands converted to Christianity yearly I was surprised at the number of people in America disassociating with Christianity or any other religion.  A 2012 poll indicates many Americans have no religious attachment whatsoever.  According to the Pew Research Center poll of 35,000 indicates that fewer adults yearly are affiliated with any Christian or religious organization.  Their poll shows that 19.6% have no affiliation and the numbers have been gradually rising.  Many of those with no religious affiliation indicated they were politically left of center.

There are indications that a number of Americans are not pleased with the free market capitalistic economy and prefer European Socialism or social justice.  Social justice is associated with everyone being treated equally in human rights, position and wealth.   It includes a belief in redistribution of wealth, individually and nationwide.  They stress big government and many entitlement programs.

It used to be that there were politicians who leaned to the left and others leaned to the right.  It wasn’t too difficult to reach agreement as to what was best for Americans.  Younger politicians have gone further and further to the left and other politicians backed by The Tea Party have gone farther and farther to the right.  When two people differ a little bit it isn’t so hard to reach agreements.  When both are ultra extreme in their beliefs it is almost impossible to reach any type of agreement.  It doesn’t seem as reaching agreements are as important as to who gets to win.

As a number of Americans are being raised with no religious background they developed a different set of morals.  In fact, some seem to have little understanding of the difference between what is right and what is wrong.  They have no religious moral compass to guide the direction they are headed.  So what direction is America headed?

Deuteronomy 28:1 – 9 – “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.  All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God:   You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.   The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.   Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.   You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.  The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.   The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in obedience to him.”  NIV

In the past 100 or so years, we have had so many inventions that have made life more simple and easy.  Some of us grew up at a time when we didn’t have electricity in our home.  We had no phone, TV, radio, indoor bath, running water and cars were driving at average speeds of upwards of 35 miles per hour.  Most everyone knew what it was like to work doing laboring jobs.  Most jobs were done manually.  Farmers used farm mowers and pitch forks to store the winter hay.  Most farm work was done by horses or mules.  Today one or two people can do the work of what used to take five or ten men to do, with the invention of modern equipment and technology.

We have so many new products and inventions that it has taken away much of a person’s ambition.  We rely on machines to serve our every need.  Technology and new gadgets are taking over and people are losing their jobs.  The government then has come to the rescue with their many welfare programs making it unnecessary for a person to have a job or be dependent upon God to meet their needs.  Most Christian Americans have believed our individual rights come from our Creator, not from our government.  Our present administration does not seem to agree.

I believe this has affected people’s need to become dependent on a God who wants us to be depending upon Him rather than a government.  Many religious individuals have become so accustom to taking, that they expect God to meet their every need.  When this doesn’t happen, they find a reason to believe there is no God or the world wouldn’t be in the mess it is today.   Since society is meeting most of their needs and they can’t see a visible God, why is it important to be religious or have a personal relationship with Christ or God? It appears many are falling away from the faith.  It isn’t hard for me to understand why 19.6% have no spiritual or religious affiliation.

I would like for those 19.6% to consider the following:  Normally as children we just grow up.  We go through grade school and enter high school.  We get a driver’s license, finish school and possibly get married.  We then start the cycle over again for our children.  How often do we stop and think: what is my purpose in life and what direction should I be taking? Why have I been put on this earth?  I am told that many older people close to death often wonder what their purpose on earth was and did they fulfill it?  Wouldn’t it be better to know there is a God and why God put us on this earth and then live for years accomplishing that purpose?  When our final day comes we can say we did our best to fulfill our purpose and helped others succeed while we were here.  I know some parents whose greatest achievement in life was raising their family.  Because of them, their children made the world a much better place.  You may find that many of those 19.6% are not really too concerned about anyone but themselves.  Those I have met seem to be much different from those who believe and worship a God.  We have always believed as a person thinks in their heart so are they.  If you think about only yourself and what turns you on, you may miss the purpose you could have been.

For those of us who believe in a God, find our purpose on earth is to develop an unconditional love for God and others and have a servant’s heart.  As we head down life’s path our carnal nature, our self-centeredness, the storms we encounter and the devil’s seducing spirits will try to guide us too often onto the wrong paths.  That’s when we check our guidance, the Holy Spirit, and make sure we stay directed to the path that leads to the ultimate goal, which is living with God and Christ forever.  When we take that last breath, what is the most important thing we can take with us?  Is it all of our material things that we have accumulated?  Or, is it eternal security?  Since there are so many death-bed conversions we must believe it is eternal security with Christ.