Prayer & Gratitude for our Nation!
Dear Calvary Family,
It’s astounding to think that in two days we will have the 250th Birthday of the United States of America! We are so blessed to live within a nation with the freedoms and foundations that we have - not without blemish or need for growth - but with a biblical worldview and the freedom to practice religion unimpeded by the government. I am beyond grateful for what this incredible country has allowed me to experience as a Christian.
"He is the best friend to American liberty, who is most sincere and active in promoting true and undefiled religion." - John Witherspoon
John Witherspoon was the only founding father and signer of the Declaration of Independence to be a clergyman, so it’s understandable that he’s one of my favorites. Plus, he has a few quotes that I think are true and meaningful for us today as we consider how to live as a follower of Jesus and an American. I love how in that quote above he shows us that the best way to be a good citizen of the United States is to promote true and undefiled religion. There are some code words in that quote that led Witherspoon’s listeners (and us) to the Bible, specifically James 1:26-27,
“26 If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. 27 Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.”
John Witherspoon was encouraging us that a friend to American liberty is a person who controls their tongue, cares for orphans, cares for widows, and does not let the world corrupt them. May that be true of how we are a friend to liberty today!
WItherspoon had a couple of other great quotes to remember during this 250th celebration of our independence.
“It is only the fear of God that can deliver us from the fear of man.”
“But what kind of society will we have if our responsibilities are set by man, and not by God?”
The Founding Fathers and the others who were fighting for our independence were faced with so much fear and pressure to cave to the demands of other men and not God. Witherspoon kept pointing us to God while saying that devotion to God is what would make our society the kind of nation worth fighting for.
Let’s continue to pray for the United States of America to be a nation under God, to be a nation that fears God, to be a nation where God establishes our responsibilities and our priorities, and to be the kind of nation that Witherspoon prayed for us to be.
But mostly, let’s be grateful for all that God has done for us.
Happy 250th Fourth of July!
May the Lord bless you and keep you,
Eric Wakeling