We hold these truths to be self-evident …
Summary: The history of the United States is both fascinating and instructive.
The 4th of July is not a celebration of our Constitution, neither is it in recognition of our status as an independent nation. The United States of America would not be officially recognized until September 3, 1783.[1] Instead of the birth of a nation, the 4th of July is a tribute to its conception.
On July 4, 1776, fifty-six men representing the thirteen original colonies signed what amounted to a declaration of war.
Sometimes, when we think of war, we think of one group of people going out to conquer and plunder another group. The Old Testament includes many stories about kings who “go off to war” (2 Samuel 11:1). Sometimes wars are a means for God to judge or discipline one nation or another. Other times a king will fight to maintain control over territory, expand his kingdom, or fend off boredom.
The signers of the Declaration did not want any of these things. Instead, they were a people who were being abused by their government. These men and the colonial governments they represented joined together to state their case to the world and take a stand against the abuses they had endured under British rule.
Today, two hundred and forty-eight years later, it is worth considering what they took a stand on, and what they didn’t stand on.
The signers of the Declaration knowingly put their lives, families, and worldly possessions at risk. Many lost all three. They did not do this because they believed that diversity was a strength. In fact, the truth they stood on was just the opposite. Benjamin Franklin understood this all too well when he famously said, “We must hang together or most assuredly we shall hang separately.”
The Founding Fathers did not put their lives at risk because they recognized that everyone had a right to their own personal truths. Instead, they acknowledged universal truths that are “self-evident.” These they describe as the “Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.” Even though the different colonies were founded on different faith traditions, they all served the same God, and this unity in faith overrode all other differences.
As we consider our situation this year and the challenges we all face collectively, it is good to be reminded that any “unalienable Rights” we have come from our Creator. It is also good to remember that along with the rights of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” comes the same responsibility that our Founders shouldered, that of standing against tyranny and standing for freedom.
Application: Celebrate, be an informed citizen, and vote!
Food for Thought: How is being a citizen under our Constitution similar to being a Christian?
[1] https://www.yahoo.com/news/day-united-states-became-recognized-sovereign-nation-093219277.html
How is being a citizen under our Constitution similar to being a Christian?
….. they both use to be respected, you could be adopted, born, or through the right steps become one.
“Happy 4th. Nothing like celebrating your country’s independence by blowing a chunk of it up.” Said someone in the USMC.
Thanks Tim!
Great point!!
Enjoy the fireworks today! 🙂
Happy Independence Day !
Thank you, Randy!
We are very blessed in this country, even in the midst of all the craziness we are seeing.
Blessings!
I would have to say that we as citizens under the Constitution are to be united under one cause. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all. For all is a part that is often overlooked. For all requires many to possess the attributes of the fruit of the Spirit. For all would require everyone to love their neighbors as themselves. As with the law, people are able to use the Constitution to pursue their own self-interest. Christ offers the kind of unity that would breath life into the Constitution. If Christ were the cornerstone of all lives under the Constitution, He would be the cornerstone of the application of the Constitution.
2 Corinthians 13:11
11 Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.
Happy 4th to everyone.
2 Corinthians 1:2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thank you, Chris!
Well said! Indeed, a knowledge of God is required “for all” to benefit under a constitution like ours. People ruled by self-interest cannot allow others to do the same.
How is being a citizen under our Constitution similar to being a Christian?
We exist within the foreknowledge of God.
We have been called by God and support this nations true values by choice.
We are free to live within the rights spelled our by the Constitution of the United States, one of which is the freedom to choose whether we worship our true God or not.
God remains in control of all events, has made good and evil known to all, and allows all to live within their freedom of choice. We are surrounded by an ever increasing evil which is determined to destroy all the values we hold so dear. The majority actually have a hatred, anger and indifference toward all people of God, because we are the restraining force holding back the full strength of madness, perversion and total rebellion against all truth. Our walk within the will of God is a convicting force against the evils they pursue, a constant reminder of their perversion.
We feel great sorrow for those who are choosing to live confined to the choices of their flesh as they deny themselves of the freedoms provided by God.
Got up this morning and once again scrapped our cat off the ceiling.
She just does not take explosions well.
Happy Fourth of July and special blessings to all who have served to maintain our freedom!!
Thanks Ron!
Sorry to hear about your cat. I hope she finds a way to relax a little during the celebrations.
You make a great point about the Christian life convicting those who are living for self. Hopefully, the majority will soon acknowledge God. We need to if our nation is to survive.