well, we made the news again. Christian values always seem to make the headlines as if it were a news flash that we do not want our religious freedoms taken away. doesn’t anyone remember why we started this “united states” thing? in fact the primary motivator for the founders leaving their former land was their government telling the citizens what their values were going to be. the founding of our country was based on the virtues and beliefs of individuals being a God-given right and a lot of very brave individuals fought and died for a land where that is still possible. but there is just one small catch…”we the people” have to keep our virtues in order to keep our freedom. benjamin franklin said “only a virtuous people are capable of freedom”. george washington, referring to the constitution, said that it could survive only “so long as there shall remain any virtue in the body of the people.” and thomas jefferson said “virtue is not hereditary”, “virtue has to be earned and it has to be learned”, “it has to be cultivated continually and exercised from hour-to-hour and from day-to-day.” hmmmm, maybe these dudes were on to something…maybe our passion to stand for our virtues and beliefs have become compromised and now…so goes our freedoms?

each one of us falls short of our commitment to God and living our Christian priorities from time to time. we go against His greatest ask of us, to place Him first in our days. we lose our way when we hustle from here to there and take our eyes away from the apex of our true “A” game. we find our way again when we come to our knees in prayer, as we fear our worst fears or become overwhelmed by the blessings of our lives. but it is in the “hour to hour” and “day-to-day” discipline to our faith that we are delivered His promises …gifts beyond our imagination such as real forgiveness, true peace, freedom, guidance, and virtue. each Christian should be reminded that it is incumbent on each of us as individuals to turn to Him hourly, seek Him daily and deliver to Him continuously our best each day or risk the loss of the freedom and salvation we will surely suffer in our personal little corner of the world, in our great nation and there after…

“Therefore tell the people: This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘return to me’. declares the LORD Almighty, and I will return to you,” says the LORD Almighty” Zechariah 1:3