Patriotism

I wanted to post the third verse of the Star Spangled Banner:
Oh, thus be it ever, when free men shall stand
Between their loved homes, and the war's desolation
Blessed with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust!"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave


Yes, this verse is in the national anthem of our country, the national anthem that everyone, be they religious or not, sings. My favorite line is "May the heaven-rescued land praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!" As a nation, we need to remember who founded this country: our Heavenly Father (this is why "Power" is capitalized). God made our nation and preserves it when we follow him; in fact, this nation is "heaven-rescued". We were founded purely through the blessings of God, and time and time again we are preserved by the mercy of the Lord. Sadly, people forget why our nation was founded. People forget our motto, In God is our trust. Only by using this motto and aligning our causes with the cause of God can the star-spangled banner "wave in triumph".

This is truly an amazing country. It was established with Christian values as a God-fearing nation where each person is free to worship God in their own way. Only in a country like this could the fullness of the gospel be restored.

It's sad when the leaders of this country lose sight of the vision of the country: that it was founded as a place where people could be free to choose liberty and live full lives. That it was established as a place where we could respect God's laws and the laws of the land. That it was made so that we would fight wars only when "our cause is just". That it was founded as a nation where we rely on God for our strength; when we boast in the strength of men, God always shows us who is really in charge. It is the Lord who made us, and the Lord who preserves us.

I hope that each of us can "praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation", and that then our nation can be "blessed with victory and peace".