“Righteousness exalts a
nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” Proverbs 14:34 NKJV
Is the United States a
Christian nation? It was founded on
godly principles over 200 years ago, yet through the years since our
independence was bought with the blood of good and righteous men, we seemed to
embody the cautionary verse out of Proverbs more than anything else. That verse
is found in not one, but two places in Proverbs. 14:12 & 16:25 both issue the same warning:
“There is a way that appears to be right,
but in the end it leads to death.” This
saying implies that the way chosen by men is not the correct path and that those
who choose such a path are rash, undiscerning, or ignorant in their
decision-making. Man generally desires
the easy path. While on the surface
there is nothing intrinsically wrong with that, as a general rule the easy path
doesn’t always lead us where God wishes us to go.
This
great nation has slowly slid away from the God of creation and is heading in
the wrong direction ethically & morally.
Almighty God is not on the
side of either political party, but rather, has His own agenda that is to be
followed by the ardent believer. Our sin
as a nation makes us despicable to our neighbors, detracting from our stature
among the peoples of the world. Our
folly is that those who proclaim Christ all too often do not live what they
proclaim and those who do not profess to be Christians notice this and chide us
for it. We must seem like one big
dysfunctional entity to those outside our borders as we judge and condemn those
who are not like us.
As
Christians in a sin sick world, we must live according to God’s just
principles, speaking and acting accordingly.
To not do so will bring about the ill will of those around us. We have a living hope within us that we must share boldly or we will be like
smoldering embers without oxygen to ignite us.
Until Christ returns, walk with the King and be a blessing!
Resources: The
Reformation Study Bible; The Asbury Bible Commentary; Matthew Henry’s Concise
Commentary and Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary.
