Tuesday 4 July 2017

God is with us

Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces;
and give ear, all ye of far countries:
gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces;
gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces.
Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought;
speak the word, and it shall not stand:
for God is with us. – Isaiah 8.9-10

I am in America for the Fourth of July this year. It is my first time to be here for the Fourth since 1997. Things have changed in the last twenty years. There is still, at least in the South where I am, a great show of religion. Right now I am in the buckle of the Bible Belt.

It is kind of nice the be a Christian in comfort.

But that doesn’t mean that we are no longer strangers in a strange land or pilgrims passing through until we get to our real homes. We even find ourselves right now in a land which is being friendly to Christians.

But we need to be careful that we never put our hope in a friendly government. The danger of this kind of comfort is that we can get, well, comfortable. And then comfort makes us lazy and lethargic. Then we are in danger when things turn on us.

But Isaiah had that covered.  He wrote 'God is with us.'

Our total reliance must be on the Lord even when things see okay. Things an turn on a dime was we need to remember that no matter what happens God’s always already given us the ultimate victory.

Our faith cannot be in politicians or leaders. They are prone to be pragmatic and do whatever works for them, but God is with is. Let our faith be in that turn, not in laws and leaders.

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