Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week

Righteousness Exalts a Nation.

Proverbs 14v34. “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.”  (NIV)

Wasn’t it encouraging on Monday to have the funeral of our Queen so honouring to God? With  Christian hymns, Christian prayers, and a sermon with strong echoes of the gospel message. And to think that maybe over half the world’s population watched it.

It is clear that people around the world looked up to our Queen and this is maybe an illustration of the above proverb. The “Book of Proverbs” is not intended as a “life is always like this”, but as a general guide to the way things work out. A similar proverb is found in Proverbs 11v11, “Through the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is destroyed.”

The Christian influence in this land over the centuries is something we can be very thankful for. It underpins more of our culture and society than is often given credit. Our modern thinking is often blind to this influence or resists it: the Queen’s service was not welcomed by all!

By way of example of influence, I was reading the other day about homicide rates over the last 1000 years in the UK. The question was asked: What can explain the steady fall in homicide rates in the UK over all that period? Statistics show there were 200 homicides per million people in 1200, declining to 100 per million by 1600, and to a low of 6 per million around 1950, but then rising to around 10 per million more recently. (Note this is a general trend, though there are blips and troughs on the way.) Is this an example of the effect of the gospel influence in our land?

The reality is that we can all be like the Queen in our places of influence. People were attracted to her light even when they don’t want to know her Saviour. And so your “righteousness” and “blessing” can have an impact on the people around you. What light are you bringing to the organisations you are part of, and the town in which we live? It may not be immediately obvious to you, but if you were not there … Afterall, Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth … [and] the light of the world … so let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5v12-14

May God enable us to be his salt and light in the world.

With love and blessing,

Roland