Listen To What God Really Says
Then Asa cried out to the LORD his God, “O LORD, no one but you can help the powerless against the mighty! Help us, O LORD our God, for we trust in you alone. It is in your name that we have come against this vast horde. O LORD, you are our God; do not let mere men prevail against you!” -- 2 Chronicles 14:11
We celebrate our country’s birthday today amid a sometimes bitter debate over philosophy and direction. Many proclaim God’s name as they argue their views, pointing fingers and spreading mistruths.
What is truth: God wants us to call on Him to lead and guide us. He wants us to live our lives according to what He actually says rather than what we wish He had said.
What? Well, that certainly didn’t go over well with some of those ultra-conservatives who claim the Republican platform is the only one that promotes Jesus. Because it isn’t. And, in some ways, it is the opposite of what the Bible actually says.
For example, we’re all in a tizzy about immigration laws. Some (conservative Republican Christians) want to fence our borders and deport everyone who can’t prove they’re here legally. The opposite side prefers to look the other way. Neither view is totally right or wrong on this complex issue. But what we know, what is clearly written in the Bible, is that we are to do good and show kindness and mercy to those foreigners in the land God has given us. Fear, hatred, mistreatment, ugly comments -- well, those things have no place in God’s world.
Health care reform is another big issue. The Bible tells us to share and care for those who have less than we do. How can anyone believe that Jesus wouldn’t support efforts to make health care available to everyone who needs it? Yet, they get so caught up in their own finances and their perceived unfairness of it all, that they can’t clearly see what God would have us do. I’m sure this plan isn’t perfect. No plan crafted by humans could or will be. But we are to share and care and provide for others.
That always brings us back to those who work and those who don’t, and those who have wonderful jobs with great benefits and those who have menial jobs with no benefits. The haves vs. the have nots. And it’s all the have nots fault. I had hoped that the last years of economic distress would show us that some people are unemployed through no fault of their own. Obviously, when it comes to politics it is always the struggling person’s fault.
Today is a day to celebrate our wonderful nation. The United States has so much more, does so much more, provides so much more, than most nations in this world. But we have pulled away from God and those leading that gap are the ones proclaiming His name the loudest.
No comments:
Post a Comment