Inauguration

After returning from Washington D.C., I started thinking about the state of our country these days. One of the most memorable parts of my trip was going to the Jefferson Memorial at around 7:30 at night. It was pitch black except for a few lighted posts along the sidewalk leading up to the monument. Once inside, there are 4 different quotes from him talking about the freedoms American's should experience and the belief that God should be central to our governing decisions. I was inspired by this. I sat inside the memorial (all by myself by the way) and just stared at his statue and his words. It wasn't a worship type thing at all... I was just truly impacted by the forward thinking of this man. What insight, what conviction, what decency was at work in him when he was alive?

Coming back home, I watched 2 documentaries on George Washington and Andrew Jackson. For different reasons I found myself viewing them in much the same way as I had viewed Jefferson last week. These men weren't perfect... they didn't even live "privileged" lives. They simply found the cause of freedom something worth giving everything they owned to experience. We've lost this as a nation. Instead of giving, we've turned inward to protecting our interests before others. We've become pretty selfish... so much so that even when you try to give you ask yourselves questions that I don't think they would've asked back then. Will we be able to survive without this? Their answer, "I won't be able to live if I don't give my life for this cause." It's so inspiring to me!

On the eve of this inauguration, inspiration isn't a word that I tie to politics anymore. So I thought I would share something I heard on the radio the other day in hopes that you will be inspired. They were talking about inaugural addresses and went all the way back to George Washington's very first inaugural address as President of the United States. This had never been done before so there wasn't really a precedent to follow. After taking the oath of office with his hand over the Bible, he leaned down and kissed the Bible with his lips. After that, he followed by opening the Bible to Deuteronomy 28 and read from the chapter about the blessings and curses a nation can expect to experience depending on their devotion to the Lord. I read this chapter today and in light of the state of our country and the attack on religious freedom and truth, it was a very chilling chapter to read. Filled with truth, but when thinking about our current government... little hope.

"Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God. But now, all who light fires and provide yourselves with flaming torches, go, walk in the light of your fires and of the torches you have set ablaze. This is what you shall receive from my hand: You will lie down in torment."

Isaiah 50:10-11

I read this this past week and it was talking about the urge to do something when you see something that is in real need of fixing. Our first question is always, "What can I do?" This verse makes that question uncomfortable for me now. I don't want to ask that of myself in fear that I'm following my plans to fix whatever the problem is. I need to be less concerned about what I need to do and more concerned about what I'm naturally doing.

We've been created uniquely in the image of God. Each one of us with different personalities and characteristics being a single representation of a God that's beyond explanation or characterization. His representation is endless. Therefore, if each of us could be everything that we were made to be, do you think the Lord would be glorified with our lives? It's so much more realistic to me than trying to put me into a role that I don't really fit into. I'm in computers for a reason, and out of fine arts and stunt devil work for a reason. It has to do with my design.

What state would our country be in if we paid attention to how we were designed and lived in accordance to the natural heartbeat that God placed in us to follow Him?