Reading the Constitution

Psalm 119:16-18 - I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word. Deal bountifully with Your servant, that I may live and keep Your word. Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law. 


My, oh, my. The thought occurred to me, as it so often does, that what we do in life imitates, both greatly and sadly, the lives that are depicted in the Bible. You will hear this a lot from me: history repeats itself. Will we ever learn? Probably not all of us.


I received an email  recently from Focus on the Family, a Christian ministry formed to promote and strengthen the family. In this email they discussed the rereading of the Constitution. Here is a quote: It is critical that the new Congress consider every piece of legislation's impact on families. The family is the bedrock of our society, our local communities, our economy, and our very way of life. The strength of the family is one of the principal reasons for America's moral and economic greatness.


Well, the Focus foundation or bedrock also is the Word of God. This is what we should all adhere to. Where is our foundation? In the world, the worldview, government, people? Our foundation should be the Foundation of Christ. The Word, which is Jesus and the Bible, should be the bedrock of our society, our local communities, our economy, and our very way of life, just like the Constitution in this nation is it's foundation.


Psalm 119 talks endlessly about God's statutes, His laws, and how we are to delight in them. We are not to lose our focus, but have these laws in our hearts as the ancient Jews did. These laws are there to help us, not to hinder us. These laws were made for all mankind. God's laws are right, true and just. When we understand the concept of God's laws being good for us, we will see them as Psalm 119 says, as wondrous.


What happened when Israel stopped heeding His laws? Their lives fell apart. They ended up in captivity as slaves. At the end of the Old Testament God was so fed up with His people He became silent for 400 years to cause His people to yearn for Him. Then Christ was brought into the picture for His plan of salvation. His laws remove boundaries. God only has good things for us if we would just let go of the things of this world. If we would no longer as a people choose to manipulate, control, steal or destroy, as our government would like to do, our lives and the things that keep our lives intact. 


Like a family that looks out for one another shouldn't we as a nation do the same? We the people... We are in the hands of the enemy...our adversary the Devil...and as Pogo once said: We have seen the enemy, and he is us. Don't we also often hear we are our own worse enemy? What does that say about a people and a nation whose foundation is not God? We cannot survive successfully without His guidance. Wasn't this the tenet of our founding fathers?


The reading of the Constitution, unfortunately, left out words that could be construed in today's world as offensive. I had hoped that reading the Constitution would remind people what this country has stood for for so many years. Maybe it still jogged their memories and brought reminders of what we used to be and how we lived and how we overcame obstacles, how we pulled ourselves up by our own bootstraps. It should be a reminder of the rights and wrongs and how we can avoid these in the future. But to deny that we said some things is covering up the truth.


The same goes for the Bible. There are some things in it that are considered offensive to some. But there's a very good reason...it's the truth. We cannot take the Bible and pick and choose what we want to believe about it. We can't do the same for the Constitution.


Our Constitution and the Bible are there for "we the people," not for the government's benefit..or God's. Let me clarify what I mean by God's! He wrote the Book for us; He doesn't need it...He doesn't need improvement! These laws here that we might benefit. It may seem as though the Bible is nothing more than a bunch of commands to stifle people, but they are not. Jeremiah 29:11 - For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.


Who knows us better than the God who gave us life...from the beginning of the earth and until the end of the age? He has created us. He knows what's good for us. If only we would trust Him in this and see for ourselves. There will always be those who take a different route. Our founding fathers understood this and wanted this country to follow in His blessings.


Jesus is the Way, Truth and Life. His way is narrow and few follow it. He is the Lamp that guides. He is the Light that shines in the darkness. God's Word, Jesus, and our Constitution. A common theme. We can learn from both...they are both there to help us overcome. When did we stop doing what the Constitution suggests? When did we start being deceived? When did we stop focusing as well on God? When did we decide His Word wasn't applicable anymore? When did we start falling away as a country and as individuals from trusting Him? More than these, why did we allow it?


James 1:21-22 - Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.