Recent histories have claimed that our Founders were not Christians and gave little thought to God's providence in the establishment of this country. They are trying to mess with the preserved history and ideals that made our nation great. For if a nation ceases to be good, it will cease to be great. We must serve to preserve remembrance of events like the first and second Great Awakenings. Remember the stories of Jonathan Edwards, Charles Finney, D.L. Moody, Billy Sunday, and Billy Graham. Revisionism has created a culture that no longer fears God and therefore no longer obeys His commands. This is not good. As Christians, we must resist the temptation to stand idly by as this occurs, because if we no longer set memorials for God, we will no longer have success in this land we possess.
We must also set an example of obedience in order to preserve our Godly heritage. God told the Israelites this in two passages (Joshua 4 and Deuteronomy 8). After 40 years in the desert, God gave blessings and promises to the Israelites, but warned them to follow his commands or face consequence. In Deuteronomy God indicates that following Him will bring success "6 Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him. 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; 8 a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; 9 a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills." If we revere God, then we will lack nothing. Yet we in American are lacking this foundation, instead we have become proud of our own successes and desire to promote individualism and forget God.
Our nation no longer thanks God for the gift of prosperity He has given to us. Since the 60s we have been taught that the rights of my individualism are more important than our corporate responsibility to follow God and Praise him for all he has done, and if we do not change this path it will lead to the destruction of our nation and a humbling of great proportions. "10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.
11 Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day....17 You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 18 But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.
19 If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. 20 Like the nations the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God." This is just a warning and encouragement to begin to remember the past, and return following God to a prominent place in our everyday lives.
One way to do that is through remembrance and reestablishing the desire to memorize verses, asking about the past, and placing memorials in our homes. Memorials are things serving to preserve remembrance of something and in this case it is our Godly heritage. For me this has taken a special significance on Memorial Day, as it is a day the Brubaker extended family gathers for our reunion. Over the past two years my uncle has been updating and reaffirming our family's spiritual heritage. He gathered information and presented it over the past two years to remind us of the history of following God, especially through working in the Brethren in Christ Church. We have honored God and made him a central part of our family history since before we were illegal immigrants in 1717, I know I have received undo blessings because of my ancestors obedience. He has allowed for success as we followed Him and listened to His guidance. Through my journey of this year, I have reshaped myself to fulfill what God wants me to do, and will continue to fulfill my family legacy, but passing on my Godly heritage. It is this remembrance that pushed me to share this post.
Memorials are important to God, as throughout the Old Testament, much symbolism is found. In Joshua 4, God directs the Israelites to symbolize their entrance to the Promised Land: "4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, 5 and said to them, 'Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, 6 to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 7 tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.'" This memorial and the other that is established later is used to remind the people of God that they must obey His commands and that He had always provided what was best for them. They did not always remember, and faced consequences, but the memorial always stood as a preserved remembrance for the people of Israel.
It is time for Christians to take a stand and set forth memorials in the public square. Stand against the believe that we are no longer a nation that follows God, and do something to helps our leaders and the pubic remember what it is like to truly follow the commands of God. He will then provide for us, bless us, and give us the things we need, not just the power we desire. So when future generations ask about our past, we do not give a revised version to please everyone. We can say that God provided for us, and we serve to preserve a remembrance of his blessings: living our lives for Him, following where He guides, and memorializing the debts paid by those in our history. So that we may be able to say: "24 He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.” (Joshua 4:24). We all must choose what we serve, and the memorials of the past help guide our way, but we must choose to serve the Lord. (24:15).
