LIGHTHOUSE DAILY DEVOTION
(Sent daily except Sunday)
August 4, 2022
BLESSED IS THE NATION
Psalm 33:12 - “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.”
Is it possible that a nation could experience God’s blessing? Of course! God promised to bless the nation of Israel and even bless those nations that were a blessing to Israel. What about other nations? Our text declares that a nation will be blessed when “God is the LORD.” When nations obey God, they will experience God’s blessings.
It is obvious that our country has been unusually blessed by God, and it is apparent that some of those blessings were due to our Christian heritage. Anyone who studies our nation’s history can readily see the influence of Christianity and the Bible in our heritage. The writings of many of our Founding Fathers speak of their faith in God and belief in the Bible. The individual liberties we enjoy were secured in part by the influence of Baptist leaders. Our Declaration of Independence speaks of the inalienable rights that our Creator has endowed upon us. This is one of the founding principles of our republic.
The original Constitutions of the individual states spoke freely of the importance of recognizing God in our governments. Certain states required candidates that were seeking public office to swear to their belief in the Bible and faith in Jesus Christ as a condition for election. The primary purpose for early education was to teach children to read the Bible. The first great universities were formed with the main objective being to teach and train preachers. Our currency bears the motto, “In God We Trust.” The pledge to our flag includes the words, “One nation under God.”
These facts do not imply that all citizens were saved or that all leaders were Christians. However, there was no question during the earliest days of our nation that God was the Lord in this country. Much has changed since then. Increasingly, we are seeing attempts to remove Christian influence from our society. This is being done in our schools, in public buildings, and in the courtrooms of our land. Our nation’s history is being revised to eliminate or minimize the role of Christianity in our founding documents. God promoted our nation because of our faith in God, what might we expect when we reject His influence?
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Wit and Wisdom – The only leader worth following is the leader who is following Christ.
Point to Ponder – A true friend is one who overlooks your failures and tolerates your successes.
