We celebrated 245 years as an independent nation this July 4.
Sadly, it has become controversial to express gratitude for the blessings of our country. Marxists are using Critical Race Theory to cast the United States as an evil oppressor nation that is racist to its core and undeserving of any honor or success.
Without a doubt, racists should repent. They denigrate people made in God’s image and provide fuel for the fires of destruction now being kindled by the Marxists. On the other hand, those who assert that all white people are racists should also repent. They are falsely accusing millions of people and sowing hateful and dangerous divisions.
Fortunately, many citizens of our nation can still see both the successes and the failures of our nation. We know that our mistakes as a country do not cancel our mission to protect and promote liberty. We are willing to acknowledge our nation’s sometimes tragic errors, but we also insist that our successes be celebrated.
We still believe in the high ideals that define our greatest aspirations, ideals that should guide us in the future: freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom to assemble, a reasonable expectation of privacy, fair treatment from our legal system.
We believe that all people are created equal, not the same, that we are created by God, that our fundamental rights are God-given and not government-given. Our government is not the source of our rights, but it should be the protector of our rights.
We also carry a sense of loyalty toward other freedom-loving nations in our world, like Israel. We believe that the State of Israel has a right to exist and a right to defend herself from the violent attacks and hostile plots of her surrounding neighbor states.
Followers of Jesus have an even deeper connection with Israel. God chose Abraham to be the ancestor not only of the Jews, but of Jesus Christ our Savior. The Bible tells us that God promised to make Abraham’s descendants into a great nation and to give them the land of Israel.
After rebelling against the Roman Empire in the first century, Jews were expelled from the Promised Land and scattered to the four corners of the civilized world. This did not take God by surprise. The promises in his written word were unequivocal. He would gather his chosen people from the nations and return them to their homeland.
Decades passed and Jews remained scattered to the nations. Centuries came and went, and Jews lived only in Gentile lands. Almost two millennia passed and still God’s promise to return Abraham’s descendants to the land of Israel was yet to be fulfilled.
Many students of Scripture concluded that God’s promise to gather the people of Israel and reestablish them in the Promised Land could not be taken literally. They interpreted God’s promise as merely a figurative expression. After all, a literal fulfillment would be impossible. It would take a miracle.
Then, in the early decades of the twentieth century, Jews began returning to the Beautiful Land. They went by the tens of thousands, leaving behind their homes and businesses and all that they had built in Gentile nations for countless generations. They went not to visit the land of Israel but to make their lives and their futures there.
In 1948, world leaders officially recognized the State of Israel, the homeland for God’s chosen people, the fulfillment of God’s ancient promise, a miracle!
Five nations surrounding the fledgling State of Israel, all much larger and more powerful, immediately joined together and attacked in an all-out effort to destroy Israel. In a stunning turn of events, Israel prevailed.
Ugly hatred against the Jewish state burned relentlessly. In 1967, the enemies of Israel made ready to attack again. In a war that lasted only six days, God gave Israel victory. Moreover, the modern state more than doubled in size! A third time, the Yom Kippur War in 1973, the enemies of God’s people tried to push Israel into the sea. A third time God gave Israel the victory.
As it is, many people today hate Israel. Like all nations, the people of Israel have made mistakes. But we can see through the failures of people and recognize the hand of God at work. We pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
Closer to home, many now hate America. But we can recognize the failures of our nation without forgetting the blessings of God on the U.S.A. We pray for the favor of Almighty God on our nation!
May God bless the United States of America,
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