Let the Freedom Bell Toll!
I have watched politics long enough. I long for the day that the election is over with and the nation has to hunker down and step into line with the leadership that has been put in place. Regardless of race, color or creed, come November 5th I know that the person that takes office is under the graceful hand of God, and I must obey and submit.
With all the partisan bickering and bantering and hullabaloo about nothing in particular it is easy for us to forget something that is inveterate to the core of this nation, our freedom. I have cast my vote for whom I have chosen to vote for, I have walked to the polls, I have helped people fill out registration forms. I have encouraged people to participate in what is hands down the greatest Democracy on the face of this Earth.
I do not say we are the greatest democracy with historic blinders on, I know what it has taken to get us here. It has taken war, it has taken social and religious changes in the landscape over and over again. It is the fact that we are in a constant state of change, and change that we hope is for the better, that we have the freedoms we enjoy in America.
One does not have to travel to far in our increasingly globalized world to see the effects of opressive regimes, Communist countries, and demagoguery of the worst sort. One only has to think as a Chinese person for a moment to realize that in all the growth and comforts they are beginning to see, there still is no ability for them to participate in the government that propels the nation forward. They are silent. If they are not silent, then they are silenced. I speak of China only as an example, we know there are regimes and despots all over the world. We can not count on one hand the amount of despots that are out there, it would take many hands, many people, to bring out the full count on who is out there, and who is lurking in the shadows waiting their turn to become a despot. We are in the fight of our lives to maintain our precious freedom, a gift from God, and we could loose it some day.
I am glad, not only glad, but thankful, that I was born in the United States. It does not matter if you are a believer in God or not when you look at the statistics for birth rates around the world. I could easily have been born in Iran, Russia, China, Australia, anywhere. (I do not list Australia as a bad example, in fact quite the opposite, but I am just proving a point.) It was an sovereign act of grace by my Lord, Jesus Christ, that I was placed where I am. It is by his grace that I live in a world where Bill Gates can sit at a computer and envision a better way to do things, and then he did it without the government taking him over and taking all the glory. I am glad Bill Gates has Billions of dollars, it means he lives in a free country where he is able to strike out, work hard, and better society. It is by his grace that I was able to see the best neurosurgeon in the country who was able to do his best work so that in a few weeks time I have been able to recover, and be better for it. Living in a democracy means that we can feel free to live for others, as well as for ourselves. There is nothing more fulfilling for a man then to know that his work, his live, his dreams and aspirations have a purpose. My God, why do we not see why the Church is exploding in third world countries, in poor countries, in countries where there should not be any hope? For once in the lives of these precious people they have a purpose, a passion, a vision to live for. Their father, their fathers father and so on all lived for one purpose, to exist. They had no other way. All they could do was look to the day, hope that it rained a little so the crop would come in. When it did not they lost all purpose and hope. God is giving them purpose, and when a man has purpose freedom is not far behind. It is not far behind at all.
My friends and readers, take a moment today to give thanks for the freedoms you enjoy. The car you drive, the church you attend, the family that you have. Take time to let it all sink in today. I think our nation has lost it’s compass, the compass that pointed towards God and said “thanks” “thanks for the small things, and the big things.”
Our nation is not one of entitlement, it is one of freedom. The people walking around thinking they are entitled to something because this is America have got a huge ego and a small heart. I pray for them that they will have a grinch experience where their cold and lifeless hearts are invigorated with the love and the freedom and the peace that comes from knowing that in this great big world, in this ever increasingly hostile world, God choose YOU to live where you do and to enjoy what you have. Let us never be caught taking for granite that which God has so graciously bestowed on his people.
Let the Freedom Bell Toll for you today. Let it remind you of what you have, and may you give thanks for it, and may it encourage you to spend some of your time living for others.
~Selah~
