Morning Devotional

July 1, 2004

"A Blessed Nation"

by Don Emmitte

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Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance. From heaven the LORD looks down and sees all mankind. [And] considers everything they do. No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength (Psalm 33:12-13, 16, NIV).

Soon we will be celebrating Independence Day all across our country. There are some facts that we would do well to remember as we prepare for our activities. In Congress on July 4, 1776, fifty-six men signed the Declaration of Independence declaring the then Thirteen Colonies (now states) in North America independent from Great Britain. Central to the Declaration of Independence are the following words: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."

 

While there are conflicting stories as to what happened to all of the fifty-six original signers, we can be certain that when they signed this declaration, they knew full well that they were putting their lives at risk. Furthermore, many men gave their lives in the War of Independence to gain independence from the then oppressive rule of Great Britain.

As history has clearly shown, there has always been a high price to pay for freedom, for there never seems to be a lack of despots who want to subjugate a people to their total control for their own evil and/or self-centered purposes. For those of us who live in free lands we have incredible blessings for which to be thankful. We can be thankful today not only for these blessings, but also for all those who have given their lives to make us free, and for all those today that are risking their lives to keep us free.

As Christians, we should not forget that while freedom is a God-given right (which the Declaration of Independence affirmed), freedom has never come without a price, and will never be maintained without the high price of eternal vigilance. As Wendell Phillips (1811-1884) in restating the words of John Philpot Curran, said, "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." And as powerful as the military might of the U.S. armed forces is, let us remember that, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD [and that] No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength" (Psalm 33:12-13, 16, NIV). And that "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people" (Proverbs 14:34, NIV). And that, when we turn from God and fail to follow his ways, we divorce ourselves from the "unalienable Rights [of] Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."

Pray for our leadership today. Pray for the leadership of other nations as they struggle to protect their freedoms also.