We Christians Need To Steer The Ship
Word-Of-The-Day: ‘Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.’ (Hebrews 12:14)
In having celebrated the 248th Birthday of the United States yesterday, we need to come to terms that it has changed since its founding in 1776. Originally an East Coast conglomeration of 13 states; through purchases, ‘Manifest Destiny’, conflicts, and simply the growth through immigration (by the anticipation of a better life in the Land of Opportunity), it has grown into a major global power spanning from the center of the Pacific Ocean (Hawaii) to the center of the Caribbean (Puerto Rico), from the shores of the Arctic Ocean (Barrow, Alaska) to the end of the road in the Gulf of Mexico (Key West, Florida).
America’s people were predominately white Englishmen at the start of our nation, and through the ugliness of the slavery of Africans brought early on in our nation, the influx of Chinese immigrants on the West Coast, the shiploads of Europeans arriving on the East Coast, and the integration and migration of Hispanics in our Southwest and the assimilation of native Americans, Hawaiians, Innuits, and Spanish, French and Texan territories is how we now have a diverse nation of people.
There are differences among us, and we have had fights and disagreements along these lines. Union vs. Confederacy, racial turmoil, cultural differences, the ‘coastal’ urban liberal versus the ‘flyover’ rural conservative. One cannot dispel these differences or ignore them. However, the one thing that has held up together is the Truth of the divine provisions God gave us in the founding of our nation. The promise of God providing a Righteous people ‘life, liberty and a pursuit of happiness’ and a belief that God did not want people to be ruled by men but to control their own destiny, giving them the free will to determine how they would follow Him and to be self-governed. This promise of allowing free will and free determination is what holds the potpourri of America together, the great melting pot into one nation – ‘E Pluribus Unum’, or ‘Out of many <people>, one <nation>’.
In order to be self-governed, the need is for the people to be Godly, moral, and selfless – to obey the ‘Prime Commandment’ Jesus provided in Mark 12:29, ‘Love God, Love Yourself & Love Your Neighbor’. The basis of the founding of the United States, and the writings of the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and its subsequent Amendments are upon this Commandment.
The author of Hebrews (its authorship is up for debate) in Hebrews 12:14 makes this foundational statement as well for the nation of Israel, that if the people live peacefully, love and share without discrimination or exclusion, and obey the Lord and His precepts – including the Great Commission and share the Gospel so that all can accept or deny Jesus in their free will – then the people will see and be blessed by Him.
The latter half of Hebrews 12:24 is clear that if we are not acting Righteously, we will not see Him or His blessing, at least at a corporate, nationwide level. We have witnessed a turning away from God and His Word and we see His blessings have been slowly dissipating. It is not possible for the unrighteous to correct the course of our nation, it is our task as Christians to take hold of the wheel and point our United States back toward His Light. Show His love, be selfless, and share His Word. Don’t be entrapped by the lie of secularism or the plans of men but be free and follow God’s plan – this is His Will for America and all Americans.
