God and Freedom
America the beautiful, land of the free and home of the brave, where are you? Your freedom is lost and your bravery has faded. How did such a tragedy ever take place? How did evil become so powerful it now rules over you? Is it due to a lack of faith? Did you forget that your strength was in God? Did you abandon God and follow the same path the ancient Israelites followed so often?
There is no other explanation for the virtually total role reversal that has taken place in a mere half century. America, once the land of the free and the home of the brave, is now the land of the captives and the home of the fearful. It has followed the example of its predecessor, Ancient Israel. It has forgotten and abandoned the God that gives freedom and wealth and now suffers the loss of both freedom and wealth.
We often wondered how those ancient people could so quickly forget the God that gave them freedom and prosperity. But here we are doing the same thing ourselves! It is because each generation is born in sin and needs a godly environment in which it can learn how to live a godly life. Sadly, this is typically not done well if at all. The Christian faith has waned each generation for a century or more. The primary reason for this is it’s dependence on the present clergy/laity structure.
A once-a-week sermon is far from sufficient. Actually, just the presence of a full-time local clergy ensures the failure we are now experiencing. It has become an all too convenient substitute for personal and family Bible study at home. The truly godly early church did not have full-time pastors. Preachers, like the Apostle Paul, were not in one place very long. The small family groups of believers the Apostles formed were on their own most of the time. They lived and met together on an informal, almost daily basis to study God’s Word. The Elders among them would lead the formal Lord’s Day worship and also help the others day by day as opportunity permitted. Actually, all were teachers to some extent. Everyone had someone they could teach something.
God places the responsibility for the instruction of children with their parents. Each godly family head is responsible to teach himself and his family. All young children should be taught by their mothers at home and not by strangers in a schoolroom. Older children should be instructed by their parents, girls by their mothers and boys by their fathers. This is the model God instituted and was followed by God-fearing people for centuries. Today, there is much excellent, low-cost material to support family self-education.
Mothers should obey God and be teaching their children at home. They should not be working at outside jobs. God provides when His people obey. The need for two incomes is a consequence of the current presence of women in the labor market. Men’s wages would rise in proportion as women obey God and stay at home. Women with older children can serve God at home by guiding and teaching younger mothers how to fulfill their responsibilities to both God and family.
Because God’s people are not obeying God, the world is in much trouble today. Many have been led astray by a Satan-inspired false theology that says we are now in the end times and God will soon rapture His people out of this world. This is utter nonsense! God does not play games, nor does He ever need to change His mind. His Word is “the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).
Wake up Christian, there is much work to do. God will never settle for less than a world in which every person is a true born-again believer. It is our responsibility to bring this about and we must get busy doing it! It may seem to be an impossible task but with God’s help, there are no impossible tasks. It may not be completed in this generation but God expects His people to obey Him. All we need to do is obey and begin the task He has assigned us. When we do so in true sincerity, He will provide all the support we will need!