“Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.” (Psalms 33:10)
This July 4th is a good time to sit back and remember just what took place 246 years ago at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, PA. One of the most famous documents of this country (and I dare say, “the world” ) was signed: The Declaration of Independence. We might forget that although these rebels were declaring their independence from England, they were also declaring their dependence on God. The last words of this document declare:
"With a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”
“The fifty-six courageous men who signed that document understood that this was not just high sounding rhetoric. They knew if they succeeded, the best they could expect would be years of hardship in a struggling new nation. If they lost, they would face a hangman’s noose as traitors.”
“Of the fifty-six, few were long to survive. Five were captured by the British and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes, from Rhode Island to Charleston, sacked, looted, occupied by the enemy, or burned.Two lost their sons in the army. One had two sons captured. Nine of the fifty-six died in the war, from its hardships or its bullets.”(The Rebirth of America, 1986, Arthur DeMoss Foundation)
The men who wrote the Declaration were not wild eyed fanatics but realists who understood just what they had done and were willing to pay the price to establish a new country conceived in liberty and justice for all, under the protection of their God. John Adams, a future president said: “I am well aware of the toil, and blood, and treasure it will cost to maintain this document, and support this declaration, and support and defend these states; yet through all the gloom I can see the rays of light and glory. I can see the end is worth more than all the means.”
These men understood just what they were doing and in whom they were depending on to help them start this new country. Just like the Scripture at the top of this venette states: In order for a nation to be blessed, it needs to be a “nation whose God is the LORD.” It also means that it was not men’s idea to start this nation.
It was God who chose this nation to be a lighthouse to the world for the Gospel. Just like Jesus said about his disciples : “You did not choose Me, but I chose you….” (John 15:16a)
The question that we need to ask then is; if He chose me and He chose this nation, what are we doing to live up to His expectations as “cities set upon a hilltop” to carry the Gospel to our neighbor and to the “uttermost parts of the world?”
PRAY
Lord, help me to remember today that You are the one who chose me to be your disciple and to live for You every day of my short life.
Fill me with Your Spirit so that I may be bold in my witness for You today and look for ways to show Your love to those I come in contact with today.
Thank You for dying on that cross so that I might be cleansed of all my sins and be adopted as your precious child!
