God chose Israel to become a model nation because of the faithfulness of their forefathers. But he warned them that if they chose the path of rebellion and disobedience they would be dispossessed. What lessons can we learn from Israel’s example?
“Why Did God Choose Israel — Part 1?” COGMessenger is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
When Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as President of the United States on March 4, 1861, seven states in the South had already declared their secession from the Union. Despite what you may have heard or read to the contrary, the reason for secession was the question of slavery. Lincoln stated it in his inaugural address: “One section of our country believes slavery is right, and ought to be extended, while the other believes it is wrong, and ought not to be extended. This is the only substantial dispute.”
While whether slavery should be extended or not was the immediate political issue of the moment, the contention actually went deeper. There were many abolitionists who felt that slavery such as it existed in the United States at the time was a moral wrong, an evil that should be not just limited but abolished. Many abolitionists had in fact supported the proposition in the 1840’s that states favoring the abolition of slavery should separate from the South (en.wikipedia.org, “Secession in the United States,” retrieved July 17, 2020).
There were two starkly different views, as Lincoln said, of right and wrong. Who is to decide what is right and wrong?
Continue readingResponsible behavior is essential not only to long-term personal happiness, but also to the survival and welfare of all mankind. This message highlights some areas of personal responsibility Christians need to be concerned with in living their lives.
“Personal Responsibility” COGMessenger is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The Bible tells us we are to “grow up,” or mature, into the likeness of Christ. In this message is guidance on how this may be done.
Since the year 1789, when the government of the United States began to operate under the newly adopted Constitution, there have been periodic elections to select a President as head of the executive branch of the Federal government, and representatives to serve in the Legislative branch.
Political parties emerged, led by influential politicians. Implied in this system of government is an appeal by the various office holders or would-be office holders to “follow me.”
Those chosen write the laws, set the policies, and administer the government in line with their ideas of how the nation should be governed. Fortunately, the framers of the Constitution had the wisdom to limit the powers of government, ostensibly guaranteeing certain rights to the citizens that the government could not impinge on, such as freedom of speech, freedom of worship, etc.
At times those rights have been respected, but on other occasions they have been violated. Under slavery those enslaved had no rights to speak of. Since slavery was outlawed, theoretically everyone is to have equal rights under the law, including individual freedoms recognized by the Constitution.
Today, in the year 2021 as this is being written, we live in a time when those who wield power over the country seek more and more aggressively to impose their views on its citizens with or against their will. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and other individual rights have rarely been less secure on a national scale in the United States than they are today, because of the leaders the people, at least many of them, have chosen to follow.
Government oppression in the United States and some other western nations has not yet reached the level prevailing in many other nations, but it is headed in that direction. Oppression has been the rule among the governments of mankind throughout history.
Human beings are by nature social creatures. In any organized society there have to be leaders, and there have to be those who follow. Most of us function in some way as leaders in certain situations, and as followers in other respects.
We all make choices in whom to follow, and what to follow. The leader or leaders you choose to follow can have far reaching consequences on your own welfare. So, whom should you follow?
The Bible has a lot to say about leading and following. And the Bible is very specific in telling us whom to follow. We are to follow God. Any other choices about this question are subordinate to that choice. Either we are following God, or we are not. And the choices we make determine the answer to that question.
The title of this article is “Follow God.” And we will explore briefly what the Bible has to say about this subject.
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