Monday, July 2, 2012

A Blessed Nation


Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. –Psalm 33:12
Some years ago, I ran across a report by social scientists who were trying to answer the question of why the United States of America was so prosperous in comparison to other nations in our hemisphere. They had taken a look at Mexico, Central America and South America and compared them to our own land and found that although the U.S. was not that much different from the perspective of the abundance of fresh water and natural resources, we were centuries ahead of our counterparts in wages, education, technology, influence, military power, healthcare, science, etc.... Why did the U.S. become this great world leader while other nations of the New World remained in near third-world status for so much of history?

The answer they came up with was rather enlightening. It had to do with the attitudes and motives of the earliest settlers of these regions. When European settlers and explorers entered regions south of what would later become the U.S., their motivation was the search for wealth. Quite simply, they were seeking gold.  These people were self-centered. They ravaged the land, destroyed people, and stole to develop these lands. They were seeking wealth and they discovered it and the dangers that come with great wealth.  These nations were founded on greed, power, deceit, and dishonesty.

However, when European settlers reach the eastern seaboard of North America, they were not in search of wealth, they were seeking freedom; specifically, freedom to worship God as they chose. One could say that while the rest of the hemisphere was searching for Gold, the Pilgrims and other settlers were searching for God.  They found great wealth when they found God.  The unsurpassed joy that Jesus offers His followers is everlasting. It does not fade away.  It begins with an acknowledgement that, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.” (Psalm 24:1) Everything is a gift from our loving and Provident Father. We don’t possess it. We merely borrow it. If we count our blessings, our joy will know no bounds.

While I’m sure there are many other factors as to why our land has been so blessed, I do know that our founding fathers were men of great faith and the nation they hacked out of the wilderness was founded on the principles of God’s word and a sincere desire for creating a nation that would honor Him. 
America, America, God shed His grace on thee, and crowned thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea. (K.L. Bates)

Scripture to Claim:
It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.  Galatians 5:1 

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