How did that dust get into my hair? It’s all over my shoulders, too. Ah, I see. The ceiling needs some work. It seems like we just repainted it. Then I looked around and I noticed the walls are in bad shape, too. The paint is peeling. What is happening? All of a sudden, the walls started crumbling faster and faster. I couldn’t clean it up fast enough. Wait! The floor is rotting out from under me. Oh my! This cannot be. Before long the very foundation will be falling apart.
I awoke from my dream in a state of confusion. I was relieved that our house was still standing firm. It needs work, but a little elbow grease and some paint will do the trick. I began to ponder the thought of my house breaking down around me. It was not a pleasant thought.
There are so many things a house can symbolize. The first that comes to my mind is this body I live in. Well, it is hard to admit, but it is starting to crumble. When I was younger, I could get hurt and heal rather quickly. I could “take a lickin’ and keep on tickin’.” Now, if I twist my ankle, it takes a while to get better, and it is very easy to reinjure. I also get tired so much quicker than I used to. I could last for hours, but now I am ready to crash when I get home. I am so thankful that I am still able to keep moving. I am in better shape than a lot of people my age. So this is definitely not a complaint. Someone once told me that every ten years you can tell a difference in your body and your stamina. I am living proof.
We can’t forget that our minds also crumble. It is a puzzle. We think quicker and are much sharper when we are young, but we are so much wiser when we are older. As we get age, we learn what is important and what is not, for the most part anyway. Some people never learn, no matter how old they are. There seems to be a short window of opportunity when we have the wisdom to match our health. However, when we get older, we are not able to remember things as well as we used to nor do we always make wise decisions. It is so sad. The saying that youth is wasted on the young is so true.
Another area that can be symbolized by a crumbling house is our homes. Unfortunately, we don’t want to make the effort to keep it in good repair. What does it take to have a good home? The family unit has to be healthy. Husband-wife, mother-father, and parent-child relationships all make up a good home. If the husband and wife are constantly bickering with each other, there is no love or peace in the home. When the mother and father are too busy to have quality time with their children and are too lazy to discipline them correctly, the children do not feel loved. The atmosphere is one of chaos. The homes in America are crumbling before our very eyes.
Our nation appears to be crumbling. I was talking with my parents the other day, and we wondered how America could have gotten in such bad shape. There are so many reasons America has gone downhill that it would be hard to name them all. Each individual Christian has not taken a stand. We have not said “No”to abortion. We have not made our voices known in the elections. Christians should never vote for anyone who is in favor of abortion. There are so many other areas we have not fought to keep sacred. We allowed the liberal agenda to take root in our country. America is crumbling as our freedoms erode.
What else? Many of our churches are not preaching the Gospel of Christ. They are closing their doors. Some have become social clubs with entertainment as the main focal point. It seems we are afraid to call sin “sin” and fight for what is right. We have forgotten how to witness and lead others to Christ. America needs churches that will get back to the basics. It is sad to see a church with the doors barred up, but it is even sadder when the pulpit is compromised. The churches are falling apart.
There are so many areas that a crumbling house can symbolize, but our children are the saddest to me. I believe if we stop the corrosion of our children, we will stop the destruction of so many other areas. I have been teaching for many years. I have observed children in church, in the neighborhood, and in the mall. I have observed the music they listen to and the TV shows they watch. I have observed their work ethic and their attitudes. There are exceptions of course, but children have been thrown by the wayside. We treat them like our toys. We are excited to play with them, but we put them aside when we start to tire of them.
Vladimir Lenin had a couple of quotes about children. He said, “Give me just one generation of youth, and I’ll transform the whole world”and “Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted.” Isn’t this true! Wasn’t this the purpose of Hitler’s youth? “The Hitler Youth was an organization, formed in 1922 by the Nazi Party, whose main purpose was to train and educate boys and girls, from ages 10 to 18, to become loyal followers of the Nazi Party as well as future members of the German military. The Youth accomplished this mainly by means of indoctrinating nationalism, pride, and devotion to the Nazi Party, Germany, and Adolf Hitler, into Germany’s Aryan youth.”
Our children are accepting the values they are being taught by our public schools, the Internet, television, and music. Unfortunately, parents do not know what their children are being taught and what they are listening to off of the Internet. Social media is rampant. There are so many apps that they cannot keep up with them all. I challenge each parent to look at what your child is being taught. Read his textbooks or check out the iPad or laptop he is using. Protect your children.
A good place to start would be to take your children out of the public school and enroll them in a Christian school or start a homeschool where they can be taught your values. There are a lot of teachers that serve in the public schools that love the children and are there because they are trying to make a difference. Unfortunately, there are many that are teaching the government agenda. I believe our government does not want us to be able to think for ourselves so they are starting with our children. Sadly, I see the results all around me of children who have been indoctrinated by our liberal system.
Doesn’t the Scripture teach the same thing? Proverbs 22:6 states, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”We need to wake up and train our children in God’s ways. It is our responsibility. Parents, be diligent. Our adversary, the devil, is seeking to devour our children (I Peter 5:8).The world wants your children. Don’t let it have them. Keep them from crumbling and just maybe, with the Lord’s help, our children can make a difference. They can slow down the decay, but only if we save them from the forces of evil.
Let’s slow down the crumbling around us. When the Lord comes back, He will stop the crumbling once and for all.
Mrs. Worthington has five children and eleven grandchildren. She serves as Principal of Pathway Christian Academy in Goldsboro.