A Nation Needs Guardrails To Remain Righteous

Word-Of-The-Day: ‘(12) Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance. (13) From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; (14) from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth – (15) he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do.’ (Psalm 35:12-15)

The United States is still a blessed nation, though like the nations of Israel and Judah back in the days of Isaiah, it seems to have lost its way and in danger of losing God’s hand of provision and providence.  Secular thoughts and actions are now the ‘norm’ for the mainstream, but as the Presidential election suggests there is a great underlying hope that we can yet change course and become Righteous again as a nation, even if just for a brief period.  The new administration appears committed to correct the mistakes of the last couple of decades, where the tolerance of unrighteous behaviors and cultural trends allowed the nature of ‘wokeism’ to spread. 

‘We The People’, in our corporate voting, want those picked to lead this course correction, unfortunately, are not all Christian.  Some are atheists or have a foundation in a non-Christian religion.  While their morals and standards are similar, and for the nation as a whole that is good, they are not Righteous though they may be right in their approach and their end goals.  While we should applaud their efforts and their achievements and provide our support for their efforts, we also need to emphasize and carry the Gospel message to the nation in parallel to provide our share of support. 

There are many who are like this.  Though having no Christian background, they are moral in character and righteous-esque in their actions.  We often think of the ones who are always in trouble as needing Jesus, but there are a lot of folks who are what we would agree are great, quiet, law-abiding people who don’t know who Jesus is.  While I’m confident of the new administration’s steps to place America back on the right path, we as Christians through the power of the Holy Spirit need to put up the guardrails along the path by performing Great Commission work, witnessing to those who need to hear.  The guardrails keep people on the path, and that guardrail lining the path is the Holy Spirit. 

Without the Holy Spirit (God Indwelled), those who are walking down the path can lose control and go off the sides.  If our nation remains secular, it may correct itself to stay on the path but eventually – as we have seen – it can drift off in a very short period of time, back into unrighteous pursuits.  It is our charge to help in getting the nation and its people back on track and keep it on track through our Faithfulness.

Jesus is a prime example of being open to all (as He always is!).  While He witnessed and cared for those who were sick and would hang out with the ‘dregs of society’, never forget He also socialized with those who were ‘good moral men’, like Nicodemus.  Our job is to give the Gospel to all, and that is that we give it through equal opportunity, no matter the status of the person.  This is the task for all Christians, The Lord, in providing us who believe and are accepted in His Salvation, chose us to be His ‘warriors’ in the battle of the souls and minds of the lost.  It is not just the job of the Pastor or the Elders to evangelize, it is a calling for all who identify themselves as a follower of Christ. 

We may need to reach out to people who we know and see often, and we also need to talk to those who may only see once.  I cannot always follow up on some of the people I pray with as the encounters are sometimes random.  We need to ask the Lord to place someone in their path who is a fellow follower who may be able to reach out to them to follow up after we plant the seed.  We can pray someone comes into the lives of others who can help direct his path toward Jesus.  This a team effort, and it takes a team – I pray that Jesus can use us, and any one of His followers who we may not know, but is known to Him, to help us help those who need to know Him.