The Family Good News -Letter
Editor’s Note: The following message is found in a Christian tract written by Donald Crawford and published by American Tract Society. The work is called Our Declaration of Dependence. My attempt to get copies of this tract was in vain. Therefore I am reproducing the literature in order for you to enjoy this excellent discourse.
Gene McGuire
In July 1776, one of America’s most historic documents was signed in the city of Philadelphia: THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. It marked the birth of this nation which, under God, was destined for world leadership. But what we often forget is that, in declaring independence from an earthly power, our forefathers made a forthright declaration of dependence upon Almighty God. The closing words of the DECLARATION solemnly declare:
“With a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually
pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”
It is important that we recall this very basic Declaration of Dependence, for in her prosperity and power, and in her unique position of world leadership, America
today is forgetting the God of our fathers, the God who gave this nation its birth and its present greatness. We need to be reminded of another warning that God gave to another great nation, Israel, on the occasion of her independence. This warning is found in the Bible, and although written over 3,000 years ago, it might easily refer to modern America today.
For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land. . . a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing. . .When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land He has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God. . .Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied. . . then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God. . . (Deut. 8:7-14)
History has made it abundantly clear that those who declare their independence from God by their lives and actions soon become slavishly dependent upon the circumstances and changes of life. On the other hand, those who have humbly declared their dependence upon God have been remarkably free and independent of concern for life’s uncertain circumstances. Abraham Lincoln, in his 1863 proclamation of a day for national prayer, said:
“Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to
feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace – too proud to pray
to the God that made us.”
So let us pray that our beloved country will have a new birth of freedom; not a freedom from God – which always leads to ultimate moral slavery – but rather a freedom built upon God and His commandments, apart from which any nation will perish. “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.”
(Proverbs 14:34)
Let us also pray that each one of us will experience a personal new birth of freedom, a freedom that results from complete trust in the death and resurrection of Christ for the forgiveness of personal sin (Acts 10:34-43). As citizens of the United States, let us also become citizens of heaven, able to say that we “have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God”. (1 Peter 1:23)
Then, like so many of the founding fathers of our beloved country, will we find in God our life, liberty, and true happiness.
WISDOM OF GOD! 