America, Bless God!
The Fourth of July weekend is a time of celebration with our friends, family, and neighbors. We get to watch fireworks, grill some burgers, head to the beach, all-in-all fun stuff! We hear that Lee Greenwood song (you know the one) probably a few times too many. All the while, “God bless America” is displayed and repeated ad-nauseum to somehow tie Almighty God into this whole “good times” picture.
But when we examine the current state of our nation, that phrase “God bless America” seems to be a shallow statement. Why is that?
God has already blessed us (and still does)! Yet what do we do to show our gratitude and bless Him in return?
We promote debauchery (sex, alcohol, pop music), violence (movies, TV) and watered down witchcraft (Harry Potter, Twilight, True Blood). We allow the practice of abortion to continue killing millions of unborn children. We fight for “gay rights” and legalized marijuana. And that’s just the year 2010… but trust me, we’ve been at it for a long time!
The number one export of the United States isn’t oil, cars, or anything industrial… it’s our culture! Rock and roll, gangsta’ rap, Playboy, Budweiser, reality television, celebrity tabloids, double bacon cheeseburgers, all American creations… and guess what? The world loves it as much as we do!
That “freedom” we celebrate is oftentimes a double-edged sword because it gets abused! Freedom was never intended to be a license to filth, but that’s just what happened.
Believe it or not, our country, and many of the states within, were established on Christianity and at the very least, Judeo-Christian values were the foundation of it’s government. America quickly became the “shining city on a hill” for the faith, sending out missionaries to all ends of the earth. Evangelistic groups popped up and made untold impacts for the Gospel for Christ! Not to mention, the number of churches, clergy members, and Christian charities per capita far exceeds any other country. These are all things we can be proud of!
So yes, we still are a “Christian nation” but it’s balanced by all the other junk we’re famous for! This is the dichotomy of America… the sinner and the saint, which has been our Jekyll & Hyde persona for ages.
2 Chronicles 7:14 is a passage that is often quoted around this time, but usually with good reason. It succinctly shows that if we as a collective body would just drop all the nonsense we wrap ourselves up in, recognize the need for God in all areas of public and private life, and pray sincerely, what kind of results would we see? Let’s find out:
“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
He will forgive our (nation’s) sins and heal our land (which needs it more than ever!).
So, what’s the problem? Oh, that’s right… we’re too consumed with ourselves to do that. And when things go south, like the economy, we start blaming God! (Funny how that works out!)
And guess what? It’s happened before! The Israelites did the same thing!
Exodus 16 tell us of the “grumblings” they had towards Moses and ultimately God, for leading them out to the desert, only now they didn’t have the supply of food their masters provided for them before! Here they were, freed from captivity from the Egyptians, but now they yearned for being “comfortable”. They took their “freedom” for granted! Does that sound familiar?
We can only answer for ourselves, but when other people see our sincere faith in Christ, where we joyfully celebrate the freedom from sin He gave us, they might just want that very freedom for themselves! Then after a few more get on-board, what do we have? Revival! A movement of God that flows into every corner of our daily life and culture. All of a sudden, things start to change: our priorities (personally and nationally), the economy, crime rates, and many other areas we may or may not notice. Let us not forget where these blessings come from!
God gave us this country, it’s liberty, His favor and His divine protection to be that light to the darkness! Let us keep this light bright (full of righteousness) and never dim (full of sin)!
