Heritage of Freedom

               

HAPPY 241st BIRTHDAY USA

HERITAGE OF FREEDOM

"Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. . . . May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you" (Psalm 33:12, 22 NIV).

For 241 years, the United States of America has been blessed as the longest on-going Constitutional Republic in the history of the world. These blessings are not accidental – they are blessings from God. Preserving American liberty depends first upon our understanding the foundations on which this great nation was built, and then it depends on our preserving the principles on which it was founded.

On July 2, 1776, Congress voted to approve a complete separation from England. Two days later, the early draft of the Declaration of Independence was signed. Four days later, members of Congress took the document and read it out loud from the steps of Independence Hall, proclaiming it to the city of Philadelphia, and afterwards they rang the Liberty Bell. The inscription on the top of the bell is Leviticus 25:10, which reads, "Proclaim liberty throughout the land and to all the inhabitants thereof."

Primarily the work of Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration of Independence was America's proclamation to the world "that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights." And it held that the purpose of government is to "secure these rights," not to determine what rights the people are allowed to enjoy.

The Fourth of July is a great opportunity to renew our dedication to the Christian principles of liberty and equality enshrined in what Thomas Jefferson called "the declaratory charter of rights." It reminds us to be thankful to God for the freedoms with which we are blessed. It also reminds us that freedom comes at a terrible price, and each of us is responsible for the preservation of our freedoms which were purchased by the blood and sacrifice of so many.

“Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshed - else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die.” --Dwight D. Eisenhower

Let's remember to make God our LORD and put our hope and trust in Him -- that we may continue to receive God's blessings as a nation worthy of His favor and protection.

Love, Jerry & Dotse