Happy Birthday America

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Scripture: Psalm 33:12 (ESV)

12          Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,

the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!

Devotion:

            I read several news stories over the weekend about how some people did not want to celebrate today because they felt anger and dismay at some of the recent supreme court decisions. Their reasoning is deeply flawed. I have celebrated our declaration of independence every year while the court ruled in ways I did not favor. There have been many times I have been extremely disappointed by the direction our country was headed and still declared my love for my country.

            Of course, I have much to be grateful for this year that has lifted my spirits. None can compare with the joy of becoming a grandparent. Even though I have not yet held the little man in my own arms I feel an inexpressible sense of joy as I gaze upon his pictures. The promise of new life and freedom that this boy will get to experience will be something truly to thank God for.

            America, is obviously, much older than my new grandson. She has lasted 246 years and despite all her challenges is still a nation to be grateful for. We may never have been more polarized than we are at this moment in the nation's history. Through many sins that have occurred we remain one nation. Although it seems that we are in fact two nations sharing one land there is still a flicker of the flame of freedom which keeps us together.

            We as a nation need to repent of our sins. We need to repent of our old besetting sin of racial division and our new sin of taking pride in that which is intrinsically evil. These are by far the most egregious sins that our country faces today. Today’s scripture can be true of America only if she acts in ways that honor and respect God as our ultimate ruler. God will judge us as he judges all nations by their actions not their words.

            Birthdays happen to us all as long as we are alive. Our desire to celebrate them gets smaller and smaller each passing year. However, once we reach a certain age, we celebrate them because of the sheer joy we feel that God has allowed us to live another year. We just celebrated my aunt's 102 birthday. (We had been planning to celebrate it since she was 100 but the pandemic canceled those plans.) It was a joyous event to celebrate her life while she was around to enjoy it together with us.

            Let us celebrate this July 4, with joy and gratitude that we as a country have made it this far and pray that God will grant us many more birthdays together as this great nation. May America continue to be a beacon of hope and freedom to the world. Amen

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