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The President with a Spotted Record |
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Themes: "Sin's Defilement, Judgement's Certainty, Heaven's Perfect Entrance Requirements When he died, some were amazed that this man who had been so despised, could be remembered fondly at all. Some felt he did not deserve the honors that were offered to him at his funeral. One would suppose that he had lead a vicious life of crime. Surely he had been one of America's most wanted. No, his crime was that he abused the power that he had been given. He broke the trust of those who empowered him, a mark he would carry with him to the grave.
Was anything good said about Richard Milhous Nixon? Well, his success as a statesman seems undeniable. The progress he began in communicating with the leaders of communism are still being advanced today. We are stunned at the changes that have occurred in some communist nations. Surely Nixon has to be included with those who worked toward this. Then there are those who saw their loved one's called home from service in Vietnam. To whom would they offer their gratitude? Nixon. However, despite all this, linked in time and memorial to the name Nixon will be one mark, one transgression, one word - WATERGATE.
The point here is not to rate the former president, but rather to show the complete devastation and enduring misery that one wrong act can cause.
Richard Nixon was elected twice to the Presidency of the United States. However, he was cut off not only from his position, but from his chance to serve. He willfully chose to cover up the crimes of his associates, rather than admit to the corruption that surrounded him.
Israel's King Uzziah had won the admiration of nations; the Bible says "he was marvelously helped till he was strong. But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the Lord his God." It was the Lord who had strengthened him and the Bible carefully records that it was against the Lord that he transgressed.
This is the power of sin-it becomes an ugly mark in the lives of each and every one of us. It will eat away everything it comes in contact with, until it has consumed all that we are and all that we could be. Sin is an awful disease that each of us must face, either here or in a lost eternity. Thankfully though, God has given us a remedy.
For Naaman the leper there was a river of cleansing. He was told to wash and be clean. Our river of cleansing is the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. God, in 1 John 1:7, states that "the blood of Jesus Christ His Son, cleanses us from all sin. Have you discovered that you are diseased and dying because of your sins? Have you come to the Lord Jesus? Have you taken the cleansing and the cure that He provided for you? If you haven't, you may be like Uzziah the king who was a leper unto the day of his death.
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Andrew Musch