This month the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance and “In God We Trust” on our currency. Good for them and very good for us!
But, why the debate?
The argument was that the phrases violated the separation of church & state. People who use that argument don’t know what they are talking about. That argument has been used so often that people believe that separation of church and state means that there can be no religious elements or actions connected to our government. They are sorely mistaken.
The first part of the 1st Amendment to our Constitution actually reads: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise there of; . . .” They wanted to avoid a national religion like England had a “Church of England.” Make no mistake about it; most if not all of our Founding Fathers were either Christians or Deists. Most were Christians.
We know they did not intend to stay out of religion completely because of their actions. The most glaring initial thing they did was to include references to God in our Declaration of Independence. Consider the follow phrases: “Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God,” “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,” and “appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World.” The Declaration of Independence ends with this sentence: “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”
These folks were not playing around. They were serious about God, and they included God in everything.
Four days after approving the Declaration of Independence, the Liberty Bell was rung. The inscription on the Liberty Bell is “Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants thereof Lev. XXV X.” (It’s from Leviticus 25:10.)
Over the years America has made a concerted effort to push God out of everything. What kind of country will we have if we remove God? As much as we pray they would not, folks do choose to be absent from God in eternity by not accepting Jesus as their Savior. We do not have to experience a “Jesus free” zone here.
Let’s continue praying for revival as we stand on the Word of God together.
If my people, which are called by my name, shall 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.
2 Chronicles 7:14
LIFE APPLICATION
Key Focal Verse:
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
2 Timothy 1:7
Our challenge today is to pray for revival, to have the courage to stand on the Word of God with power, love and a sound mind as we walk in obedience. Let’s have faith that God will heal our land.
Be encouraged. God is always faithful.