What are people celebrating this 4th of July? We used to call it Independence Day. But now it's just a number and a month. Do people really know what they are celebrating? When you say the word "Secession" to people ..most people just give you a blank stare. But that is what we are celebrating. It's our secession from England in the 1700s. Why do we celebrate this? It's because we won! If the colonists hadn't succeeded then they wouldn't have seceded. We'd be singing "God Save the Queen"!
Nationalism as described at dictionary.com is the "devotion and loyalty to one's own nation". Nationalism is rampant in the church today. Most of us sat through services today where there were American flags waving. Patriotic songs sung. Allegiances recited. Is this a form of idolatry in the church?
I'm not saying it's wrong to celebrate our country. Most of us celebrate our birthdays without going over a list of our own sins. But when does a celebration become an obsession? When does nationalism slip into idolatry. When do we put our allegiances to country and flag over our allegiances to the Lord?
The Bible has much to say on this subject.
Isaiah 40:15 No, for all the nations of the world are but a drop in the bucket.They are nothing more than dust on the scales.He picks up the whole earth as though it were a grain of sand.
Psalm 72:11 All kings will bow before him, and all nations will serve him.
Psalm 87:6 "When the Lord registers the nations, he will say,“They have all become citizens of Jerusalem."
Isaiah 40:17 The nations of the world are worth nothing to him. In his eyes they count for less than nothing— mere emptiness and froth.
When we get to Heaven there will be people there from every tribe and tongue and nation! Revelation 7:9-10 "After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”"
My allegiance is only the the Maker of Heaven and Earth, the Creator of the Universe, the one that gave His only Son for the redemption of my soul! Nations come and go. Our country is relatively young in the scheme of the world. The only thing that is eternal is the Lord God Almighty.
So as we have our barbecues, watch fireworks and celebrate this weekend..let us not forget where our true allegiance lies. Who is the true King of our Hearts? What do we proclaim as the center of our lives? Whose flag is higher in our lives? Our nations'? or our Lord's?
Hebrews 13:14-15 "For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name. "
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