Paul wasn’t afraid to tackle hard, controversial subjects, even in his letters. “What happens when we turn our back on God?” he asks the Roman Christians. “Sin is like sand taking over an abandoned house.” Paul paints a dismal picture of a society who, because they refuse to acknowledge God, He abandons them to their own desires.

So God said, in effect, “If that’s what you want, that’s what you get.” It wasn’t long before they were living in a pigpen, smeared with filth, filthy inside and out. And all this because they traded the true God for a fake god, and worshiped the god they made instead of the God who made them—the God we bless, the God who blesses us. Oh, yes!

Worse followed. Refusing to know God, they soon didn’t know how to be human either—women didn’t know how to be women, men didn’t know how to be men. Sexually confused, they abused and defiled one another, women with women, men with men—all lust, no love. And then they paid for it, oh, how they paid for it—emptied of God and love, godless and loveless wretches.

Since they didn’t bother to acknowledge God, God quit bothering them and let them run loose. And then all hell broke loose: rampant evil, grabbing and grasping, vicious backstabbing. They made life hell on earth with their envy, wanton killing, bickering, and cheating. Look at them: mean-spirited, venomous, fork-tongued God-bashers. Bullies, swaggerers, insufferable windbags! They keep inventing new ways of wrecking lives. They ditch their parents when they get in the way. Stupid, slimy, cruel, cold-blooded. And it’s not as if they don’t know better. They know perfectly well they’re spitting in God’s face. And they don’t care—worse, they hand out prizes to those who do the worst things best!

Romans 1:24-32, MSG

What specifics do we learn about GOD and the CONSEQUENCES OF CHOOSING FALSE GODS? Chart your discoveries.

GOD. How does Paul describe the true God? Does God allow choice? What is God’s response to peoples’ rejection?

CONSEQUENCES OF CHOOSING FALSE GODS. What does life look like without God?

As you read Romans 1:24-32 today, is there a word or phrase that catches your attention? Ask God about it, and write down the thoughts He puts in your mind.

What picture would help you describe God’s message to you?

Check in tomorrow so we can share what we’ve learned.

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Photo by jean wimmerlin on Unsplash