May We Always Remember…

Our Father’s God, to Thee,

Author of Liberty,

To Thee we sing.

Long may our land be bright,

With freedom’s holy light,

Protect us by They might,

Great God our King.

            ~ “My Country Tis of Thee”

Oh beautiful for patriot’s dream,

That sees beyond the years,

Thine alabaster cities gleam,

Undimmed by human tears!

America! America!

God shed His grace on thee,

And crown thy good with brotherhood,

From sea to shining sea!

~ “America the Beautiful”

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,

With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me.

As He died to make men holy,

Let us live to make men free,

Our God is marching on.

~ “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”

I just wanted to remind everyone, in the words of some of our oldest patriotic hymns, what made America different in the first place. A lot of things are changing in this country – and not necessarily for the better. As humans we were made for freedom. “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1) We can look for it in human governments and rulers, and we might have it for a time. But the only place it truly exists is in Jesus Christ. May we never forget that empires have always risen and fallen. That’s just part of the circle of history. We as Americans are not exempt from that. In the end, it doesn’t matter what country we live in or how much freedom our government “allows us”. Our rights as humans, as the Declaration of Independence says, are inalienable. They can’t truly be taken away by anyone because they were given by God Himself. No one, not even the government, can “redefine” what they didn’t define in the first place. My God is the only King who will stand forever. “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” (Isaiah 40:8)