Have You Noticed Your Gray Hair?

Mixture with the world and half-baked commitment lead to unconscious spiritual decline. 

1. Mixture with the world leads to unconscious spiritual decline. 
   • Leviticus 11:44, 45; 19:2; 20:7; Exodus 34:12-16
   • 2 Corinthians 6:14-15
   • James 4:4
   • 1 John 2:15-17

     • David Wells describes worldliness as “that set of practices in a society, its values and ways of looking at life, that make sin look normal and righteousness look strange.” (God in the Wasteland [Eerdmans], 86)

     • Suppose you wanted to change the thinking of an entire nation. Let’s say, for example, that you wanted to make the people think that red is green. How would you do it?

       One idea would be to have about 60 percent of the citizens meet together once a week in some little-used buildings and take about an hour ... to convince them of your idea. But that probably wouldn’t work ....

       A better plan would be to have them spend 8 to 10 hours a day sitting in front of a television set. Make the folks watch a lot of programs in which famous people demonstrate that red is green. In addition, make sure the citizens are plugged into a radio the rest of the time so you could have some ... people sing some loud songs about the lovely green shade of red. Also, set up thousands of theaters where people could relax and be entertained by laughing at the absurd idea that red is red. As a supplement, get your message into books, magazines, and newspapers. Dave Branon (RBC Discovery Digest [May-June 1985], 20-21)
   • Isaiah 5:20
2. Half-baked commitment leads to unconscious spiritual decline
   
   • Hosea 7:8b
   • Revelation 3:15, 16
   • Jonah 1:8, 10
3. Unconscious spiritual decline is marked by several telltale signs.
   • Unconscious spiritual decline involves a gradual loss of strength. (Hosea 7:9b)
   • Unconscious spiritual decline involves a watered-down view of sin and holiness (Isaiah 6:5)
   • Unconscious spiritual decline involves deafness to God’s rebuke. (Hosea 7:10)
   • Unconscious spiritual decline involves ignorance of spiritual need. (Hosea 7:9)
   • Unconscious spiritual decline is revealed when you turn to the world rather than to God for help in a time of trouble. (Hosea 5:13) 

For with the Lord there is lovingkindness, and with Him is abundant redemption. (Psalm 130:7)

Sin in the last analysis, in its most terrible form, is infidelity to love. It hurts God. (G. Campbell Morgan (Voices of Twelve Hebrew Prophets [Baker], p. 51))