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Thomas Jefferson once said, "A people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the powers knowledge gives." Part of knowledge entails understanding who we are in comparison to who we were, comparing where we are and what we’ve achieved with where we were and what accomplishments preceded our own while assessing where we’re headed by first deciding whether our destination is compatible with our past and worthy of our future.

Will the paths open to us now still allow us to honor those who were so instrumental in getting us to this point in history? Should we remain true to the principles held dear by so many for so long? Will we maintain faith in a God who has blessed us with such success that we’ve become the envy of the world, enabling us to be and do so much more then anyone thought possible?

In 1863, Americans were challenged with these words: "We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven. We have been preserved, the many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to God who made us. It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness. I do, therefore, invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens." President Abraham Lincoln signed this proclamation on April 30,1863, calling for a national day of fasting, humiliation and prayer which over time became our Thanksgiving Day holiday.

Once again, we Americans have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has. But alas, we too have forgotten God. We have deceived ourselves into thinking this growth is of our own doing, becoming too proud to pray to the God who made us – and are paying the price in political intrigue, social unrest, economic uncertainty and spiritual confusion. Let us remember the wisdom expressed in Zecheriah 4:11 concerning the source of all good things and successful endeavors. "‘Not by might nor by power, (are these things achieved) but by my Spirit’, says the Lord." And that, "…if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14

Alexis de Tocqueville, a French nobleman and political scientist came to the United States in 1831 to learn the reasons for America’s remarkable success so soon after gaining freedom from England; his findings published under the title "Democracy In America." In it he said, "I sought for the greatness of America in her commodious harbors, in her ample rivers, in her fertile fields and it was not there. In her boundless prairies, in her rich mines, it was not there! In her vast world commerce, but it was not there. Not until I went to the churches of America and saw her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power." He concluded - as do I - that, "America is great because she is good, but when she ceases to be good she will no longer be great!"

"Bible verse and quote" from Jan Couns

Bible and Quote - March 11-15