READ: GENESIS 6
Now the Lord observed the extent of the people’s wickedness, and he saw that all their thoughts were consistently and totally evil. (V. 5)
When I first entered police service, I was issued a standard .38 Colt Police Special six shot revolver. This was deemed sufficient to meet any threat that I might encounter during my tour of duty. Six 12-gauge shotguns and one Thompson sub-machine gun were kept in a storage locker and only to be taken out to meet potential “high risk” situations. By 1976, each patrol vehicle was equipped with a 12-gauge shotgun, secured in an electronic rack, to provide an immediate response to the violent acts of criminals armed with more potent firearms.
The armament progression continued in the late 1980’s when our standard sidearms changed from a revolver to a 15-shot 9mm semiautomatic pistol. Despite having the benefit of issued body armor to go along with our enhanced sidearms, a prevailing feeling lingered that, at times, we were outgunned and ill-prepared to meet the violent threats facing our communities. Then came Columbine High School in April of 1999, and our armaments took a dramatic step forward. Following this tragic incident, police agencies changed their response tactics to “active shooter” events. No longer would we secure the perimeter and wait for better armed SWAT Teams, we would now, following our natural instincts, immediately engage the shooters saving lives and minimizing causalities. Anticipating that we would face more and more “active shooters” armed with military style assault weapons, officers were now being trained and equipped with semi-automatic rifles to be on equal footing. Unfortunately, since 1999, school, workplace, church, hospital and other incidents of mass shootings have increased as the progression of violence marches steadily forward ushering in a new age of law enforcement.
God had Noah build an ark as the progression of evil by His creations reached intolerable levels. His heart was broken as he observed the depths of depravity deepen by the people to whom he had given life. Finally, when evil had reached its limit, God, expressing sorrow for every creating man, made the faithful decision to wipe them out and start over using Noah and his obedient family. Despite the start over, we who are God’s children frequently find ourselves dealing with the slow steady progression of sinful behaviors in our own lives. One of my former Chief’s of Police observed, “Once something starts wrong it can never be corrected by rationalization or excuse.” I found this to be absolutely true. Once we start letting sin gain control of our lives, we are doomed to progress in a direction totally opposite to God’s will and the end is never pretty. However, thanks to Jesus, we can prevent our own drowning by turning to him for help to stem the tide of our sin influenced lives.
PAUSE FOR REFLECTION AND PRAYER
The sacrifice of Christ and his teachings are the firepower you need to halt the progression of sin.
Father God, help me stop the progression of sin in my life—you add the specifics.