Under God?Sampel

One Nation

I was raised in a wildly patriotic, flag-flying home. I love my nation. Always have. Always will. I honor those who have fought around the world for our freedom. I appreciate those who serve our communities. I appreciate our opportunities to gather and worship freely, start businesses, have as many kids as we want, and raise them however we want. I feel blessed to live in the United States of America—the land of the free, home of the brave.

While we may be strong, powerful, and prosperous, we can sometimes confuse all those good things with God’s exclusive blessing. We are not God’s only nation. We’re not God’s favorite nation. As a matter of fact—let this sink in—America is not the promised land, and Americans aren’t His chosen people. Pause. Now, let’s consider who we really are.

I’m an American. But I’m not just an American. I am, first and foremost, a Jesus-follower. The name of Jesus Christ (which we carry as Christians) should determine who we are and how we live. When we identify with our nationality first, we may become consumed with things that distract us from our primary mission as followers of Jesus.

As Christ followers, we’re not just here to defend our freedoms;

we’re here to help people find freedom in Christ.

All the Christ-followers in the world make up the Church, one nation under God. We, the people of God, are the Church. We’re just passing through this earth, so our citizenship to the nation we live in is only temporary. Our permanent citizenship is with Heaven. Our earthly citizenship may tell us we’re American, Albanian, Algerian, or Australian, but our heavenly citizenship says something greater. We may be loyal to our country, and great things can come of that. But we worship a different King. A King whose name is higher than any other name.

PRAY: King Jesus, we’re thankful for the freedom and blessings Your sacrifice brought us. Give us the boldness to live as Your holy nation no matter what’s going on around us. Your Word says that together we are Your body, Your hands, and Your feet, showing the world how much You love them. In Your name, amen.