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July 3

Taste and see that God is Good!

Oh taste and see that Yahweh is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

Psalm 34:8 (WEB)

We are coming up on one of my favorite holidays – July 4th! Like most holidays it involves great food and family. What more could you want? FIREWORKS!!! I am a watcher of fireworks. I will be checking the TV listings to make sure I watch every firework display that is presented. I like seeing them in person but this year I will be at home watching on TV.

July 4th is a time that we remember the joy and victory of our freedoms. We recite portions of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution like beautiful pieces of poetry. Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and Kennedy’s Inaugural Address bring tears to the eyes that only truly inspired works can do. It is a feast for the spirit as we share a gastronomic feast among family and friends.

I hope as we celebrate we also remember our Lord who was there every step of the way. As we celebrate may we also raise our voices in thanksgiving for our Lord who did not leave us on the battlefields nor sleep while we debated and voted our way through presidents, senators, representatives, governors, mayors, and thousands of laws. As we sit around the table and share wonderful memories of picnics passed, may we also share stories of how our Lord fed us when we could not feed ourselves. It is not about preaching or arguing to win a point –

Hear my teaching, my people. Turn your ears to the words of my mouth.

I will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of old, which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.

We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of Yahweh, his strength, and his wondrous works that he has done.

For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a teaching in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children; that the generation to come might know, even the children who should be born; who should arise and tell their children, that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments, and might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that didn’t make their hearts loyal, whose spirit was not steadfast with God.

Psalm 78:1-8 (WEB)

On July 4th what will you remember about the holiday? Will you be able to know that you shared a piece of your heart as you told the story of how Jesus helped you through the week? Will you dismiss the question because you did not want to offend someone? Will that hold up as you look at Jesus and explain that the truth is – you were ashamed of Him? Will He be ashamed of you? Will He bless you with the rest of one who has “done well, good and faithful servant!”? I pray that it is so – for you and me. God bless America!