Election Day

What a night, last night, huh? For a political geek such as myself, Election Day is like the Super Bowl. I had my snacks and drinks all ready to go as I settled into my recliner to watch the returns. Just like my team does not always win the game, election results don’t always to the way I would prefer. Nonetheless, I am humbled and blessed to live in a country where I get to vote for my leaders. That is not the way in so many other places in the world. We should never take that for granted. Where did our founding fathers find this idea of self-governance? The Bible. John Adams said, “The highest story of the American Revolution is this: it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity.” Noah Webster of West Hartford, CT, famous for his Webster’s Dictionary, said in 1833, “The religion which has introduced civil liberty is the religion of Christ and His Apostles…This is genuine Christianity and to this we owe our free constitutions of government.” On May 29, 1845, Andrew Jackson said, “The Bible is the Rock on which this Republic rests.” Newly elected president of the United States Zachary Taylor refused inauguration on Sunday March 4th out of respect for the Lord’s Day. He is inaugurated on March 5, 1849. On April 30, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln said, “…nations are only blessed whose God is the Lord…” Anyone who tries to tell you that this is not a Christian nation, is simply ignorant of history or intentionally lying.

As I said, things don’t always go our way, but Paul reminds us in his letter to Titus, “Remind the believers to submit to the government and its officers. They should be obedient, always ready to do what is good” (Titus 3:1).

Our God is a God of order and peace, not chaos and violence. And, although, our candidate or issue may not have prevailed. We will still submit to the government in order to keep the peace. At least, until they require us to do something unbiblical. Then, as Peter clearly said in Acts 5:29, “We must obey God rather than any human authority.” Until then, we are a people of peace and laws. We’ll have another opportunity to vote again soon. In two short years, we do this all over again. Please, do not see it as a burden but a blessing. We get to choose. Our voice, our vote, matters. I know it’s not a perfect system, but it is better than any other system in the world.

If we ever move away from our foundation, we will fall. President Harry S. Truman said it best on February 15, 1950, “The fundamental basis of this nation’s law was given to Moses on the Mount. The fundamental basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teaching we get from Exodus and St. Matthew, from Isaiah and St. Paul. I don’t think we emphasize that enough these days. If we don’t have the proper fundamental moral background, we will finally end up with a totalitarian government which does not believe in the right for anybody except the state.” Amen, Mr. President. Amen.             

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