To the god of freedom
As I was praying for America this day it struck me – our nation is and has been sacrificing to another god. It is the god of choice and personal determination. It is how this nation was founded and it is a value that continues to drive us. Now we have sacrificed over 35 million unborn children to this god. And the people of the land want to sacrifice more. President elect Obama wants to sign the Freedom of Choice Act to make abortion of all kinds available to all women. And some of us actually think this is a Christian country!
It is obvious by our acts that we have made the god of choice our god. The God of the Universe is not the god we trust in. We trust in a god who will give us what our greedy little hearts desire. We want freedom to choose for good or ill. We want freedom from the responsibility of facing the consequences of our actions. We want freedom to have what our eyes see and our flesh desires no matter how damaging or wrong it might be. This is the kind of freedom that America has come to crave and thinks the rest of the world needs.
Freedom from oppression is not a bad thing, but freedom from all consequences is dangerous. Consequences teach us self control. Consequences teach us good from bad. Consequences help us to see that others are valuable too.
Christ has granted freedom to all who will believe in his name. But the freedom He grants us is the freedom from the power of sin; freedom from our baser selfish desires that cause so much of the wrong in the world. The sacrifice that Christ demands of us is not our unborn children but of our personal life; our wants our desires our hopes – our future. Being a Christian means that we are willing to accept that we many not know what is best for us. Being a Christian means that we believe God knows what’s best for us. We Americans live in a culture where the greatest good seems to be seen in an individual’s rights, but this is antithetical to Christianity, which says the greatest good is in our personal and corporate sacrifice to/for the betterment of others. The greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven is not he who rules over others, but rather the one who lays his live down for the sake of others, he or she who is the servant of all.
So pray with me for America, that the people of God would wake up and realize that maybe they have been worshiping at the altar of another god. Its time to tare down our idols, repent and seek the One True God – the God who sent his son to die for our sins. The God whose desire for us is better than anything we might think or imagine. Our God isn’t a republican or a democrat or libertarian. He is the absolute God of the universe. His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts.
So let us cast aside our darkened thinking and accept the mind of Christ that we might honor Him with our lives and see His Kingdom come and His Will be done here on earth as it is in heaven. Amen
Your servant in Christ,
Alan
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