Living As One Nation Under God

My sister, brother-in-law, and niece (Katie) drove up last weekend to help with Blue Springs Day. They were in charge of the Cupcake Walk, but I had forgotten the cupcakes. My sister, Cookie, and I made a quick trip to my house to get them.

As we drove up, I commented on the bunting on the upstairs porch. Cookie said, "Yeah. Katie wanted to know what was wrong with you. She couldn't believe it was still 4th of July at your house." 

I told her I'd been busy. And I have. I just hadn't gotten around to taking them down. And I hadn't. 

There was a bigger reason the bunting was still up, though.

After July, I decided to leave the bunting and "flag" door decorations until Labor Day. Then, the wind blew the bunting backward. Every time I drove up to my house and saw the backward bunting, it seemed symbolic. I would think about what a mess our country is in and I would stop to pray.

One day, when I thought about taking it down, I wondered how much longer we'd have this country of ours and be able to fly a flag and decorate with bunting. The thought was chilling and I decided to leave it in place. 

Yesterday, after more than four months, I took down the bunting and replaced the door decoration with my fall flower arrangement. 

I realized something I should have known before. In many ways, the nation I grew up in is already gone. The digital network has connected us globally in ways we never even imagined when I was a child. I'm not sure there's more crime, but we certainly hear about it more. There may not be more corruption, but we read/hear/see it constantly. 

We're less insulated. Innocence is lost earlier. Poor choices are paraded like a trophy. We might have made the same choices forty years ago, but we weren't as proud of them. We weren't as open. 

And yet... we're the same fallen, broken people we've always been. There's still only one hope for change, and that hope is still in Christ alone.

After the presidential elections, one group of supporters will swear the country is going down the tubes. One group of supporters will swear it's not. 

The truth will lie somewhere between, and it will depend on how we the people decide to live going forward. Will we stay the same or begin to live as "one nation under God" is supposed to live?

When God said, "if My people", He wasn't referring to lost people. He was referring to His people. 

Positive change will not come because of one man's claims. Positive change will come only when God's people decide to stop blaming lost people for not living like God said, and, instead, start doing it themselves.

It's up to us, body of Christ. We are the ones who must show the rest of the nation what living "under God" means, how it's done. We are the ones who must  demonstrate that "Victory in Jesus" is not only possible, it's worth it. 

Let's decide today to do something so radical that even our fellow believers will be surprised. Let's love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Let's love our neighbor as ourselves. 

Let's stop giving leftovers and give of our BEST to our Savior. 

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In case you missed yesterday's post, here's the link: Making Sense of Election 2016

#ifMypeople #onenationunderGod