Independence Day

Our pastor has been very careful to not refer to today as the 4th of July but rather as Independence Day. Like Easter, Christmas and Thanksgiving, the memory represented in the day has been lost. It has become another day off with picnics and celebrations rather than a day in which we think about what we have been given in the country we live in. God bless the United States of America!


Don’t get me wrong, I have the day off and we will have a barbeque over at Grandma and Grandpa’s house – complete with multiple lectures on varied and unrelated topics – but I hope in the distractions not to forget what the day should be; a remembrance of the cost of the freedoms we have in America and that if we are not constantly vigilant both without and within, how quickly we will lose those freedoms.

Yesterday we told the story of Jonah to the little ones in our Primary Church. When the prophet Jonas was unceremoniously vomited up by a large fish on the shore of Nineveh, it seemed the people of that great city nation were ready to hear what he had to say. I do not believe God has any such miracle in store for us today in America. We are more like the story told of the man who sat on the roof of his flooded house as the waters rose ever higher praying for God to rescue him. Having rejected the help of a man in a canoe, a rescue boat, and a helicopter, expecting something more miraculous to happen, he eventually drowned. When he questioned God about not answering his prayer and letting him drown, God pointed out that He had sent help three times while he had wanted something more Heavenly.

We have been warned. If we do not speak up, no one will. If we lose what we have it will not be the fault of God. He has given us ample opportunity to reverse the course of self-destruction our country has been on. One voice, one home, one church, one city, one county, one state at a time we can initiate the required changes, but it all starts with you and me and our proper relationship with God. I think he is interested in helping, but He is waiting for us to begin the process in earnest.

Enjoy the day. Enjoy the freedom. Then ask God where you need to begin to get involved protecting the freedoms we all enjoy.