Faith & Insight: Happy Independence Day!

America has a great Christian heritage as evidenced by the convictions of those who settled this land, our founding fathers’ faith, our founding documents, our past leaders, our monuments, our anthem, motto, pledge, seal, and the high percentage of our population who claim they’re Christians.

Psalm 33:12 says: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.”

We’ve been blessed by the Lord both materially and with freedom to teach our children about Christ. America has sent out more missionaries to the world than any other country in history.

Will we continue to be blessed? The key is in Proverbs 14:34: “Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” We have a Christian heritage, and a responsibility to maintain it.

Patrick Henry said, “Whether this (new government) will prove a blessing or a curse will depend upon the use our people make of the blessings which a gracious God hath bestowed on us.” And Thomas Jefferson said, “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”

These are just too amazing quotes out of the many hundreds that are documented in our nation’s history and upon our nation’s great monuments. A stroll around Washington, D.C., would prove to bring joy to any Christian’s heart. You could stop and read the many verses of the Bible that are inscribed or engraved on our national monuments and places of great history. Next week we celebrate Independence Day, and as we do, let us remember a nation without God will soon and certainly become a nation of ruin. Let it be the prayer and goal of every Christian church to be a Liberty Bell. To live out the verse which is on that bell. “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof,” Leviticus 25:10.

May our Christian churches in the wonderful United States of America stand tall once again in this great country, even as the Washington Monument does, proclaiming: “Laus Deo,” or “Praise be to God.” Two seemingly insignificant, unnoticed words, out of sight and one might think, out of mind, but meaningfully placed at the highest point over what is the most powerful city in the world. Those two words, composed of just four syllables and only seven letters, mean “Praise be to God!” They’re inscribed at the pinnacle of that monument.

Other messages on this amazing monument include: “Holiness unto the Lord,” “Search the scriptures,” “The memory of the just is blessed,” “May Heaven to this union continue its beneficence,” “In God we trust,” and finally, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

I personally love the fact we’re a nation of many peoples and America is a place of rest, refuge, restoration, and opportunity for all because of the God who has blessed us. Let us never forget freedom isn’t free, be it spiritual freedom we have in Christ, or the liberty we have as a nation.

May we always be a people of gratitude.

May Lord bless you and keep you.

Patrick Propster is pastor of Calvary Chapel Carson City.