Your Daily Devotional for July 4, 2007

 

July 4,  2007

 

 

Remembering Our Foundation

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

"Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day: Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied; Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage."

 

Deuteronomy 8:11-14

 

 

President Woodrow Wilson once said, "A nation which does not remember what it was yesterday, does not know what it is tomorrow." As we celebrate Independence Day today, we must remember the foundation of our nation.

 

As we see in our verses today, the Lord spoke to the children of Israel, before they ever approached the Promised Land, and warned them not to forget His goodness to them. God had given them a list of blessings in the first half of chapter 8, and He wanted them to remember that whatever glory and blessings they would attain was because of the goodness of God.

 

Today we remember those who helped found our nation. Our nation was founded by men who believed the Bible. They believed that the only true source of wisdom and understanding was God's Word. They risked their lives to break away from the king of England's orders in attempts to gain freedom. They founded this nation on God's Word and on His principles.

 

As we remember our nation's foundation, we must first remember God's principles. Verse 11 of our verses today says, "Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day." We must remember the commands God has given us from His Word. One way you can tell when an individual or nation is not following the Lord, is when they are no longer heeding His commands. God desires that we read His Word and obey Him. If we are to remain a great nation and a great people, we must remain in God's Word and we must obey His commands.

 

Second, we must remember God's blessings. Our nation has been blessed in so many ways over the years. James 1:17 says, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." Everything we have is because of God. He has made us a great nation and has blessed us in our own lives. We must not become so prideful or arrogant that we forget that God is the source of everything we have! We must remember that God alone has the power to bless us.

 

Last, we must remember God's promise. In Psalm 33:12 we read, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance." God has promised to bless the nation and people who honor Him. But He has also promised that if we reject Him, He will remove His blessing. We must remember to honor God and to obey Him not only as a nation, but as individual people. If we desire for our nation to remain blessed, we each must remain faithful to God.

 

As you celebrate America's independence today, take time to remember all that God has done for you personally. How has He blessed you? What has He done for you lately? It would do us well to take time to remember all that God has done for us. Also, we must remain faithful to God's Word and to His commands to us. Take time today to thank God for His blessings and commit to remain faithful to Him.

 

Daily Bible Reading

Job 28-29 • Acts 13:1-25

 

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