Skip to main content

Nations

             Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance. (Psalm 33:12)

         

          There are people who claim that America is an exceptional nation, a nation that has been chosen and blessed by God. I agree, but after that, we differ because I believe that every other nation has been chosen by God to fulfill some role in history and blessed with the capacity to do so. Pharaoh was chosen by God. So was Moses, and Joshua, and the judges, and the prophets, and Nebuchadnezzar, Xerxes, Darius, Alexander, Antipas, Herod, the disciples, and even Pilate and the emperors of Rome. Each nation, and each person has a role to play in things – some major, some as extras.

          Out of all the nations, God chose the people who weren’t a nation, a people who couldn’t keep their nation together and who regularly did everything in their power to reject God: the Jews. And through that nation, He established a new nation that has never actually possessed a geographic base – the Christians. But we must keep in mind that He never broke promises that He made to other nations, either.

          What I am saying is that our nation, the United State of America, will be blessed by God, but it is not the nation He has chosen for His own inheritance. It is His people within that nation who are the nation He will bless. I love America as the nation God has given to me as my home. I tear up over the national anthem and “God Bless the USA” just as I tear up over countless hymns and Christian songs, and over both the flag and the cross.

          It is not our task to create a Christian nation. It is our task to create more Christians and to follow our Lord. When others start talking about our return to greatness being tied to our faith as Christians, I struggle. Should the goal be to have a great nation? When “greatness” is raised to the principle issue, a song by Don Francisco comes to mind. It’s about Balaam and his talking donkey. Here’s the conclusion of the song:

 

The Lord’s the one who makes the choice of the instrument He’s usin’

We don’t know the reasons and the plans behind his choosin’

So when the Lord starts usin’ you, don’t pay it any mind

He could have used the dog next door if He’d been so inclined.

                                                (Don Francisco, Balaam)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Think About These Things

                 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) This passage is a major challenge for me. Like everyone else, I struggle to keep my thoughts from wandering off into the weeds, then wondering what possible benefits those weeds might have… Sigh. But as a writer, I have to delve at least a little into the ignoble, wrong, impure, unlovely, and debased. After all, there’s no story if everything’s just as it should be and everyone’s happy. As Christians, there are times when we need to deal with all the negatives, but that makes it even more important that we practice turning our minds by force of attention to what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s just too easy to get stuck in a swamp. With my...
1 comment
Read more

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...
2 comments
Read more

Pure...

            The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (I Timothy 1:5)   I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:15-16) I’m probably cheating - or mishandling the Bible, but earlier I was thinking about love being pure and purifying. And hatred being pure and purifying. And anger…joy…patience… fear… jealousy… courage…lust… and other strongly felt feelings, attitudes, and beliefs. Today’s verse brings purity and love together, so it’s the verse of the day, but it’s not really the focus. That means my motive for sharing it with you probably isn’t pure. As you read through my list, you   probably thought, “Yeah” about some, and “What’s she on?” about others. But consider how much hatred, a...
Post a Comment
Read more