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Everybody Isn’t Doing It

The well-know biblical prophet, Elijah, once said to God, "The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too."¹

On one occasion the prophet Elijah was convinced that everybody in Israel except him had turned from God and that he was the only one who hadn't. God reminded him that there were seven thousand others in Israel who weren't rejecting him.

A common excuse that many use to do as they please is the claim that everybody's doing it. The fact is that not everybody is cheating on their taxes or on their spouses. Not everybody is getting drunk or stealing from their place of employment, either.

Many may be doing these things but the statement that everybody is, simply isn't true. Even if it were, would that make it right? Of course not. If everybody walked into a fire, would you or I do the same? Or, like the proverbial lemmings who blindly follow their leader over a cliff, would you or I do the same? Hardly.

God didn't give us the Ten Commandments to kill our fun, but to protect us. There is a valid reason for every one of them. In breaking any we harm ourselves or somebody else. Stealing, for example, isn't wrong because one of the Ten Commandments says, "Thou shall not steal." It's wrong because it is damaging to the one who steals and hurtful to the victim. That's why "Thou shall not steal' is one of the Commandments and why it's very wise to obey it and every other one of God's directives even if everybody else isn't.

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, help me to realize that all of your commandments are there for the good of all, including myself and my loved ones. Give me the courage to do right even if all around me aren't and regardless of how I feel. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."

1. 1 Kings 19:10 (NIV).

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