Stars and Stripes Forever
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Think back to past 4th of July celebrations. Perhaps Independence Day evokes memories of parades, picnics, watermelon, or patriotic cantatas. I love to watch spectacular fireworks displays with John Phillips Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever” playing in the back ground. As we observe the 4th of July this year, as never before we need to remember the sacrifices made by our forefathers to win and secure the freedom we hold so dear. When General George Washington led his troops into battle from the harsh winter bivouacked at Valley Forge, historians tell us that one could trace their bloody footprints in the snow. |
Many of them had no shoes. Our liberty was purchased with great price. Even now enemies of liberty are determined to destroy us. Brave men and women still serve and sacrifice around the globe that the stars and stripes may wave forever over the land of the free and the brave.
As we celebrate the 4th of July consider some essential things we must do in order for the stars and stripes to forever wave over our nation in liberty.
First – PRIDE AND PATRIOTISM are essential as we celebrate. Our nation is not perfect but it is humbling to realize that we have the privilege to live in so great a country of liberty. Many hate America. But someone said that the mark of a great nation is how many people are trying to get in and how many are trying to get out. It’s okay to be proud to be an American and be appreciative to God for His blessings.
Second – PASS THE LOVE OF LIBERTY ON. Our children and new immigrants need to understand the high cost of liberty. Revisionist text book writers are constantly trying to erase our religious heritage, patriotism, and the good character of the fathers and pioneers of our country out of the history books. Secularists want no mention of God’s blessings on America. When God brought the Israelites out of slavery and delivered them through the Red Sea and across the flooded Jordan River into the Promised Land, He told them to erect memorial stones. When their children asked the meaning of the stones, they were to tell them the story of deliverance. “That the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty: that you may fear the Lord your God forever” (Joshua 4:21-14).
Third – PRAY. People who only play and do not pray are on the brink of destruction and tyranny. God hears and answers the prayer of the humble. “If my people, which are called by name, shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (II Chronicles 7:14). May “Trust In God” be more than a motto but a reality in our hearts and national consciousness.
Jesus Christ who bore the stripes of suffering and went to cross as the sacrifice for sins, arose victorious over death and hell. Jesus proclaimed, “He that the Son sets free indeed” (John 8:32, 36). May you experience true freedom in Christ and have a Happy 4th of July.
by: Cliff Sanders