Honoring Independence Day

30 Jun Honoring Independence Day

Saturday is Independence Day in the USA – the 4^th of July!  This is a hard year to be happy celebrating the 4^th of July.  Many fireworks displays have been cancelled because of the Coronavirus pandemic, and the political polarization in our country right now does not put us in a celebratory mood.

But God gave us this country, and with all its current troubles, it is still the best country in the world.  So, let’s use the day to be grateful to the Lord for His blessings in our lives and to pray for God’s deep work in our nation.

The violence in our country is extremely disturbing.  But we have faced deeply divisive times in the past that we recovered from. We can pray that God will show us a way to recover from this season of unrest as well.

And, while 4^th of July celebrations will be dramatically curtailed this year because of the pandemic, Christians can determine to celebrate the 4^th of July in our hearts in three ways.

First, we can remember those who helped set our country on a pathway of biblical principles that have allowed our nation to prosper.

Early inhabitants of our country were Puritans, who emigrated from England to gain the freedom to worship God as they saw fit.  Religious freedom was a central value of many of the early colonists.

As our nation began to grow and form a united government among the original thirteen colonies, reliance on Scripture and the Christian faith was unconcealed.  Here are just a few of the many quotes that are available to validate this observation:

• George Washington: “It is impossible rightly to govern the world without God and the Bible.”
• Thomas Jefferson: “The Bible is the cornerstone of liberty.”
• Benjamin Franklin: “The longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: ‘that God governs in the affairs of men.’ And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?”
• Patrick Henry: “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great Nation was founded not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religion, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For that reason alone, people of other faiths have been afforded freedom of worship here.”
• John Jay: “Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian Nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.”

Our nation is not a happy accident.  It is evidence of what God will do through a people willing to follow the truth He revealed in Scripture. As Christians, we can honor and celebrate that historic reality.

Second, we can pray.  After Benjamin Franklin made his historic statement, “if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?”, the Continental Congress paused for prayer, a prayer which God heard, and helped our fragile nation “rise.” If God answered the prayers of His people in the past, we can trust that He will hear them in the present.

The question is not so much if God is prepared to answer, but if we are prepared to pray.

Third, we can work to preserve the religious freedoms that were guaranteed in our Constitution.  Christians can be “salt and light” to the world around us by living lives of integrity that honor God and reflect biblical truth.  And, we can exercise our rights as citizens to vote.  In the Old Testament, kings were judged by whether or not they promoted “justice and righteousness.”  If so, they were judged to be good kings.  If not, they were judged to be bad kings.

We do not have a king, but we help choose elected officials, and we are responsible both to vote, and to vote for those who will best uphold biblical justice and righteousness.

Conclusion

During one of his 4^th of July addresses, President Reagan said, “Let the Fourth of July always be a reminder that here in this land, for the first time, it was decided that man is born with certain God-given rights… We sometimes forget that great truth, and we never should.”

So, this 4^th of July, let Christians look back with gratitude to celebrate God’s presence and impact on our national life in the past, and let us look forward in prayer to His continued presence and impact in the future, that this “one nation under God” can continue to thrive, for His glory, for generations to come.

Help spread the message, “Like” my Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/maxanders.author and invite your friends to do the same. If you know someone you think may find this blog valuable, please forward it to them. I am always glad to hear from readers. Write me at max@maxanders.com. I try to answer all emails, but, if not, I may address in future blogs the questions/issues you raise.

Share this Blog