Hi Friend,

When I was a pilot there was a preflight check—a list of things to KNOW before ever starting the engine.  Every pilot checks the oil level because, as instructors teach their students, there are no repair facilities in the clouds.  They also check the tires, the nuts and bolts on the ailerons, elevator, and rudder before getting in the plane.  It doesn’t stop there—before taxing to the runway he checks the gauges and pitot tube.

It isn’t just a game—it is literally life and death.  Multiple hundreds of pilots—and their passengers have died—because the plane left the ground and there was no oil in the crankcase, or a dirt dauber had clogged the pitot tube and the altimeter did not function.

So it strikes me as the height of folly for a nation which has been blessed abundantly, to “assume” that the God who created the world does not bless or punish nations that have obeyed or rejected Him.

Does God have a right to expect something in return for His blessings?  No human would think of working without expectation of reward.  The reward may come years later—when a farmer plants a pecan orchard, he does not expect it to become productive for several years.  But he expects his labor to pay off.

Is it any surprise that God expects something in return for His investments?  The Prophet Jeremiah addressed this very concept.

⁷ I brought you into a fertile land
to eat its fruit and rich produce.
But you came and defiled my land
and made my inheritance detestable.
⁸ The priests did not ask,
‘Where is the Lord?’
Those who deal with the law did not know me;
the leaders rebelled against me.
The prophets prophesied by Baal,
following worthless idols.

(Jeremiah 2:7-8)

If God has not blessed the United States, then it is reasonable to believe that there is no expectation that He should be the God of this nation.  But there is a potentially fatal consequence if that assumption is false.  If He has blessed us, He has every right to expect from us what is due Him.

It’s wonderful to have freedom of religion—citizens are free to worship God the way they wish or worship any other god or worship no god at all.  But what if there IS a God that has blessed this nation?

Jeremiah continues,

²⁰ “Long ago you broke off your yoke
and tore off your bonds;
you said, ‘I will not serve you!’
Indeed, on every high hill
and under every spreading tree
you lay down as a prostitute.

Was Jeremiah talking about America?  Long ago our forefathers broke off the yoke of slavery to another nation.  His description fits today’s politicians more accurately than anything ever written.  Men and women who were bequeathed power in the freest and wealthiest government the world has known—a nation established by men who sacrificed their fortunes and sometimes their lives to create a free country.  But our current politicians are bought by lobbyists who wave money at them.  They have laid down as prostitutes for every barbaric country or business that offered them a dollar.

Occasionally we hear of a senator, a congressman or a CEO who refuses to be bought with the golden parachute or promise of office.  Blessings on those brave people who place honor above money.

Ezekiel quotes God as saying, “I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it….”  (Ezekiel 22:30)  May such men be found in the halls of congress, as governors in states and mayors in our cities.  There are some who are willing to stand and build the wall.  May God give those wise pilots the strength to follow the preflight checklist.

Until next time,

Jim O’Brien