My
heart aches for this country that I love. What has happened to our world?
Tragedy after tragedy seems to make the headlines all to often. And we are left
with the questions: How? Why? What is America to do?
When
something bad happens, the airways are bombarded with the usual rhetoric of,
“we need more laws.” Do we? I am pretty sure it is already illegal to kill
someone. The simplicity of the Ten Commandments cover how we should govern and
live. Let’s review, shall we.
1. I am
the Lord your God and you shall have no other gods.
2. You shall not make for yourself any idols.
3. You shall not take the Lord’s name in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
5. Honor your father and your mother.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not give false testimony against
your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet.
What
more do we need to add? Yet, people want to keep the Ten Commandments from even
being displayed. They want to keep God out of the United States, and there lies
our problem.
This
weekend I was watching the CBS Sunday Morning Show and Lee Cowan had a segment
called Losing Our Religion. In it,
Lee gave this statistic, “Today, one out of every three person surveyed under
the age of 30 - say they don't link themselves with a church, a mosque, a
synagogue, or anything else. Compare that, with the "Greatest
Generation," where only one in 20 claimed no religious home.” I found those statistics staggering and very
telling.
We
have a whole generation that doesn’t have a belief system, a moral code, a
discernment of right and wrong because they haven’t been taught. They haven’t
been told that they are fearfully and wonderfully made by the Creator who loves
them and knows the plans He has for them. Instead, this generation has been
told that whatever they want to believe is fine. They have been told that God
should be taken out of our nation and any reminders of Him stripped from our
sight. They have been told that we need an America that doesn’t offend anyone.
They have been told that America is no longer a Christian nation. They have
been told that the Bible is outdated and irrelevant. When you take God out of
society, you take away the value for life. Good gets blurred with evil. How’s
that working for you, America?
I
find it puzzling that the nation only seems to turn to God when there is a
tragedy. It is then okay for the President of the United States to quote
scripture and say we are praying for you. What would happen if as a nation we
turned to God every day and dedicate this land to Him. What would happen if we
welcomed God in our country and prayed for His wisdom and guidance publicly?
Jesus
said, “Love your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind, and
love your neighbor as yourself.” We need
to get back to our Christian roots. We need to put God back in our nation. We
need to teach that the Bible is unchanging and alive and active and as relevant
today as it was thousands of years ago. We need revival in this country. We
need to spread the love of Jesus in the schools, in the workplace, in the home.
America, we need to make big changes, heart changes. We can do it with our
faces to the floor in prayer and believing God can turn this nation around one
person at a time. It begins with you and me. We need to be empowered to spread
the Good News of a Savior that can
save and heal. His name is Jesus.
Luke
2: 8 Now there
were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over
their flock by night. 9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood
before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly
afraid. 10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for
behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For
there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the
Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a
Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”13 And
suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God
and saying: 14 “Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace,
goodwill toward men!”
Jesus
is all we need!
