On July 4, 1776, my ancestors were slaves in the United States of America; however, I am led to believe that a seed for freedom and justice for all was planted when the founding father’s developed the United States Declaration of Independence.
A seed? Come on, Nicole! The founding father’s had slaves. The founding father’s had an opportunity to end slavery. Thomas Jefferson developed a 168 word passage condemning slavery, but it was removed from the final document. What seed did they plant? If they planted a seed, it was unintentional. They had no intentions of setting us free because they needed us to work in their fields and nurse their babies.
Well, unintentionally or not, the second paragraph starts as follows: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” Unalienable means it is impossible to take away or give up something, so I am more convinced than ever that a seed was planted.
You see, our Creator binds us together, and he loved us so much that he sent his only son Jesus to set us all free over 2,000 years ago, so freedom is in our blood. He saved us from an eternal hell and I can praise him freely for his blood sacrifice in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Oh! I’m proud to be an American because this country is bold enough to step out on faith and claim to be one nation under God, so how are we representing Christ as a nation? Do we love God with all our hearts and with all of our souls and with all of our mind and with all of our strength? Do we love our neighbors as ourselves? Jesus said that there were no commandments greater than these. When we love, we will not dishonor each other. When we love, we will not put ourselves first because love is not self seeking. When we love, we will not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. When we love, we will be patient and kind. Do we bless those who curse us and pray for those who mistreat us? Are we welcoming foreigners into our land? Are we feeding the hungry? Are we taking care of the children in orphanages or foster care? Are we taking care of the poor and oppressed? Do we take care of the least of thee? What we do for them, we also do for Jesus. Do we confess our sins to the Father, so he can cleanse us from unrighteousness? Do we forgive as a nation, so God can forgive us? After all, we are one nation under God, and Jesus told the disciples that the world would know that we are his disciples by our love for one another. So, are we bringing people to Christ, as a nation, by the LOVE that we show one another? You see, “one nation under God,” is more than words that we recite during the pledge, it’s our testimony as Americans. It’s our testimony as believers in Christ. Just think about it. Then, go to the Father and pray about it.
#Soul Searching with Our Father#
