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Growing up, there were a few times throughout each year that I could expect to see all of my family together. These included Thanksgiving, Easter, Christmas, and the Fourth of July.
The Fourth of July was the time when all of the family would come together, grill out, and watch the fireworks. I remember one year when the box that contained the fireworks tipped over, and the fireworks were actually being shot at us. Quickly, a celebration of freedom turned into an overwhelming sense of panic and fear. Because we weren’t careful in the way we celebrated our freedoms, it seemed that only a few seconds had gone by and we had lost them.
Captivated by the anticipation of the lights and colors, we took our eyes off the box that contained our fascination. Similarly, in America we are so captivated by the freedoms we enjoy that we have taken our eyes off of the faith that contained and sustained these freedoms.
The interesting thing about America is that we consistently remember the Fourth of July and the freedom that came with it, but we hardly ever consider the faith that captured the freedom.
4 But the [Holy] Spirit distinctly and expressly declares that in latter times some will turn away from the faith, giving attention to deluding and seducing spirits and doctrines that demons teach, 1 Timothy 4 AMPC
Where would America be without the faith of our forefathers that gave them the inspiration and encouragement to fight for the freedoms we enjoy today? One could actually make the argument that where there is no faith, there is no freedom.
33 And they have turned their backs to Me and not their faces; though I taught them persistently, yet they would not listen and receive instruction.34 But they set their abominations [of idol worship] in the house which is called by My [b]Name to defile it. Jeramiah 32: 33-34 AMPC
It’s interesting that tomorrow is the day that we celebrate the freedom, but can’t find the faith that actually won it. Should tomorrow still be a celebration if we no longer have the faith that captured the freedom in the first place? This nation was built on the assumption that it would remain under God. But now that God has been removed, will the nation remain?
There are countries that are at war every single year, so we can agree that it isn’t fighting that guarantees freedom. It is the faith of the leaders that can guarantee a promising future. So what do we celebrate if our leaders are lacking faith? I don’t believe that there are many couples that celebrate their anniversaries while their divorce is pending...
If you can find a nation without faith, I guarantee you will find a nation without freedom.
“We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth, and power. … But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us. (“A National Day of Fasting, Humiliation, and Prayer.” Proclamation March 30, 1863)”―Abraham Lincoln
The Question of the Day: What are we celebrating?