Why repent, and history

We often hear older people say there isn't as much respect for history anymore. That is especially true when it comes to things like entertainment, where social media has caused people to only pay attention to what is recent, and for everything to be up for criticism and for people to then follow the crowd. It is true with other things as well, because people like George Washington aren't placed on quite the pedestal they were decades ago.

This can seem like a bad thing, because respect for what has come before us is important. It helps us to have a foundation to who we are, and the good guys of history can show us examples of good, upright behavior that we can be like. It is good to have achievements recognized for more than a few years, months, or even weeks like they are now, before they are forgotten, so we can see the benefit of a lifetime of moral living despite the fact they weren't perfect.

But, when it comes to prayer for our country, it can actually be a very good thing to not put such people on such a pedestal but instead to remember the imperfections.

In the olden days, we put people like George Washington on a pedestal; it seemed like they could do nothing wrong. Only one man ever lived who did nothing wrong, though, and that was Jesus Christ, who was God in flesh.

Therefore, it is not as hard to humble ourselves and seek forgiveness for the wrongs of a country dating back to its founding, and in fact before then. It is easier to accept the faults of our founders - Washington, for instance, apparently never paid late fees on a couple library books - instead of exalting them to the point we forget they, too, were imperfect.  The trick is that we must recognize that we, too, have faults, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.(Romans 3:23)

In the old days, it would be more difficult to seek repentance for the wrongs done centuries ago, because we only heard, for example, that George Washington "never told a lie" (a story that is not meant to say he was perfect, but to say that he tried very hard to always be honest,which is an admirable trait we, too, should have) or that Lincoln freed the slaves. However, let us consider, for instance, President Lincoln at the start of the Civil War cared as much about preserving the Union. And yet, he, too, provides a great model for us in repentance, because by the end of the Civil War, he said, in his second Inaugural Address, that it was possible that the war would last until every drop of blood which had then shed by slave owners for 250 years would be required of Southerners.

Thankfully, God is merciful, His mercies are new every morning, and though He must punish sin - and Lincoln's statement about the war might be close to accurate, given that it cost the nation so many lives and maimed many others (I hesitate to link as it's graphic for younger viewers, but Google "Civil war" and "surgery" or "limb amputations"), and that the financial cost - while it can never be completely known - was so much that the public debt, for instance, exploded to 40 times what it had been just 5 years earlier! God is long suffering toward us not willing that any should perish but that all would come to repentance. 2nd Peter 3:9 His patience will not last forever, of course, but while we are among the living we can be sure of His love and mercy. It can be argued whether the nation, in the Civil War and afterward, has already paid the economic price for its sins, but the important thing is that we know for certain that Jesus paid the sin debt that we all deserved to pay for our own sins. And, because of it, each person who has called on Jesus for forgiveness and placed their trust in Him to save them can go to Him and seek forgiveness for this country.

See, we too are guilty of sin just as everyone else. We don't all commit the same sins - Washington and Lincoln did try to always be genuinely honest, but they still sinned. And, looking back to the Old Testament, Daniel is the same kind of leader. And, it is important for everyone who will step up and pray like Daniel does in Daniel 9 to recall that in seeking forgiveness for America's sins.

If anyone could have said, "I followed you Lord when nobody else did," it was Daniel. He was a mere teenager, possibly as young as 11 or 12, when he was carried away captive to Babylon. He was noted by God and by the heathen around him for how he worshipped the Lord.(Daniel 6 records the others were jealous of him yet couldn't find anything to accuse him of.). Yet, we read that he sought forgiveness for all of the turning away from God that his forefathers had done by saying *we* have sinned. He sought forgiveness for the sacrificing of human beings to idols when it was the most horrible thing he could imagine. He asked God to forgive those who had done that because he himself was also a sinner. No, he never did anything like that. However, he recognized the central truth of God's Word, that we can't justify our selves, a word that means to "declare oneself righteous before the law." We can't declare ourselves as righteous as God. No, we have not always had it good here, there has been terrible oppression and some have been victims even recently in places like Ferguson and Baltimore and the horrible fight in Waco. (By the way, speaking of the spiritual battle that is going on, CNN has singled out the only black biker involved in that, as if the devil is again trying to stir things up. Don't let him do that, but instead pray to God for revival.)

However, the standard is not are we as well off financially or socially as someone else. The standard is not are we being kind and considerate while others are being violent toward us. The standard is found in Matthew 5:48. "Be ye perfect even as your Father in Heaven is perfect."

So, even though we are certainly not doing some of the wicked things othersdo, we must remember we, too, are imperfect and, as you can read in earlier blog posts, we must get our hearts right with God about those times we're mad at someone cutting us off when they might have been rushing to the hospital to see a dying relative or other times we have not been Christlike.

Let us remember that Washington was a man of prayer; let us see how the secular world has tried to ignore this famous painting - and the fine art that it is - and put down the faith that Washington had, regardless of the exact facts of his prayer. Let us remember that our heroes, like Washington, were fallible, but let us also emulate their good qualities.

However, we should remember the one we want to be like is Jesus Christ. The way to do that is to let Him make us new on the inside - "For if anyone is in Christ he is a new creature, old thigns are passed away, behold, all things are become new."(2 Cor. 5:17) This is done by simply Admitting you're a sinner, Believing Jesus Christ, God in flesh, died to take the punishment for your sins and rose from the dead, and Calling on Him to forgive and save you from your sins, inviting Him to change you ont he inside as you repent. Then, once you have done so, nothing you do can separate you fromt he love of God.(John 10:28-30, Romans 8:36-39, Jude 24, etc.)

And, then, call on God and ask Him to draw you closer to Him and to forgive you and everyone for the sins of this nation as Daniel did - you can read Daniel 9 here. And, pray that God will bring a repentance revival to this nation, that he will start with each of us, with our homes, with our communities, etc., as we turn fromt hsoe things which dishonor Him and seek His face and his healing for our land. And, feel free to pass this free blogbook around, too, to encourage young people to take the lead themselves, to take their frustrations and bitterness to God and let Him lead them to be leaders themselves.