Proverbs 16:3 “Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.”
Daniel 9:18 “O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.”
Galatians 6:14 “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.”
As we enter the full-fledged political season, we can expect our politicians at all levels to say everything they can to gain a competitive advantage. Many will invoke the name of the Lord, while striving to convince us that we should support them because God does. Whenever we hear such things, we must hearken back to a story from the 1860s involving the words of President Abraham Lincoln in response to a bold statement from a group of ministers.
In the midst of the Civil War, a group of ministers boldly proclaimed the following to Lincoln: “Mr. President, our cause will prevail, because the Lord is on our side.” Lincoln wisely responded: “Gentlemen, the question we should always ask ourselves is: ‘Are we on His side?’”
In our lives, we must spend far less time assuming that God is on our side, and far more time ensuring that we are on His side. We are to avoid the presumptuous activities that seek to bend His will to match our will. We must not assume His alignment, but instead assure our alignment.
Whenever we hear a political figure coax us with their faith-filled phrases, we must use the Lincoln litmus test. The question we should always ask ourselves is: Are we on His side? By the actions of our leaders, are they on His side? By their words, are they on His side? By their platforms, are they on His side? By their policies, are they on His side? By their track records, are they on His side? By their attitudes, are they on His side?
As a very related aside, a statue of Reverand Billy Graham was unveiled in the Capitol a little over a week ago. The Bible in the hands of the statue figure is intentionally opened to Galatians 6:14. God forbid that Americans and our leaders glory in ourselves. Instead, may we all glory in a God Who deserves our dedicated alignment.
PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD HUMBLY AND RESOLUTELY STRIVE TO ALIGN OURSELVES AND OUR SOCIETY WITH THE LORD. There is one question we should always ask ourselves – are we on His side?
NOTE: I won’t be posting next weekend, but please keep praying for our nation and our leaders!
