Happy Anniversary USA!

So be careful to do what the LORD your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left. Walk in obedience to all that the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess. Deut 5:32-33 NIV (Moses’ challenge to the new nation of Israel)

Happy Birthday, America! 250 years in the making. America is a nation that has borne many trials and tests since declaring its independence. It is a nation that has fought wars on behalf of others’ freedom and fought a war within itself to define freedom for its own citizens. It is a nation that has experienced financial booms and disasters, and the rise of political giants and their lesser peers. America is a nation that has witnessed the assassination of four sitting presidents and the survival of seven presidents who faced serious assassination attempts.

It is a nation that has survived corrupt leaders, financial mismanagement, and scandals. Yet it has stood against fascist regimes, provided aid to the hungry and displaced peoples of the world, and stood for what is right. An oft-quoted and referenced scripture among American early leaders was Micah 6:8, “He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (KJV)

George Duffield, who served as chaplain of the Continental Congress, spoke during the Day of Thanksgiving on December 11, 1783, praising God and reminding the listeners of their obligations as citizens of this new nation and as followers of God. “It is that we love the Lord our God, to walk in his ways, and keep his commandments, to observe his statutes and his judgments. That a sacred regard be maintained to righteousness and truth. That we do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God. Then shall God delight to dwell amongst us. And these United States shall long remain, a great, a glorious, and a happy people. Which may God, of his infinite mercy, grant. Amen.” (Robert Morgan, 100 Bible Verses That Made America).

The nation has survived even as it continues the struggle to live up to the founding leaders’ high expectations. Though it has often fallen short of that dream, it continues to champion the lofty vision set out in the preamble to the United States Declaration of Independence.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

The decision to seek independence from Great Britain was neither easy nor unanimous. Yet those leaders who could envision a freedom beyond being subjects of the king spoke fervently in favor of independence. Patrick Henry spoke boldly about why there was only one course of action. “The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them.” Henry went on to challenge the delegates meeting at St. John’s Church in Richmond, Virginia, with the words, “Give me liberty, or give me death!”

The case for independence was laid out in the declaration, “When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”  The delegates voted to seek independence, and a nation was born.

Over the next several years, a bitter fight for independence was waged at the cost of many sons and daughters who gave their lives for freedom. Following Patrick Henry’s death, a small sheet of paper was found next to his last will and testament, where he had recorded some of his last thoughts about American independence:

“Whether this will prove a Blessing or a Curse will depend upon the Use our people make of the Blessings which a gracious God hath bestowed on us. If they are wise, they will be great and happy. If they are of a contrary Character, they will be miserable. Righteousness alone can exalt them as a Nation. Reader!, whoever thou art, remember this; and in thy Sphere, practice Virtue thyself, and encourage it in others.” (Morgan)

Will we be the nation of Proverbs 14:34, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people”? Each generation of citizens has faced the reality of this verse. Robert Morgan wrote, “In the days following the American Revolution, the new nation quickly abandoned its Christian heritage. Church attendance plunged, and colleges became seedbeds of atheism. The spiritual progress of the Great Awakening, which had helped fuel the American Revolution, dissipated.”

The darkness that crept across the American spiritual landscape in those early days was pierced by the blazing light of a new awakening because of the prayers, voices, and faithfulness of those who sought God’s help and revival.

July 4 will host thousands of parades, firework displays, cookouts, politicians’ speeches, and a multitude of other events. However, maybe the most critical and beneficial event will take place the next day, Sunday worship. What will our nation be for our children and grandchildren? It all depends on whom we seek. “All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations.” (Psalm 22:27-28)

Happy and blessed 4^th of July!

God is great!