Do we get it?

I have been watching, with the rest of you, the developing tragedy in New Orleans, and the coastal areas of Mississippi. Such devastation. However, I must admit that other images come also, unbidden - images of the party atmosphere (euphemism) that seems to be characteristic of that city. Images of debauched videos advertised from New Orleans at its worst.

I realize that there are many good and godly people in New Orleans. God has his witness in that city. But it is so easy to slip into “well, they deserve it”, that I almost embarrass myself. Then I hear the Lord. “Do you think they were more wicked than you?” I almost answer, “Yes.” But, trying to see myself as God sees me, I acknowledge that, if not for Christ, I would be as black as anything there. I hear Him say, “Unless you repent, you shall all likewise perish.”

Maybe that is the real lesson for the rest of us. For “the Big Easy”, the lesson will be one they have to learn. For us, the lesson is that it may not be a hurricane, but someday, God’s final judgment, His real judgment will fall. Hurricane Katrina reminds us that we are nothing compared to the forces God created and sin corrupted. We are also nothing compared to the wrath of God on sin. Catastrophes come. Blizzards blow. Tornados destroy. Storms crash into our lives. How do we respond? Do the images of Katrina’s aftermath move us to repentance? They may move us to sympathy for those caught there, but unless we remember our life in the presence of God, we will miss God’s point for us.