I've never written President Obama before. There are several reasons why I have not. One is that I doubt that my letter will make much of an impact. I know that he and I differ on many issues facing our country today. It is highly unlikely that he would read a letter from me and change his viewpoints. Many people have expressed my viewpoints in much more articulate ways than me.
Instead of writing a letter about policies and beliefs, I wrote to him and told him I prayed for him. I expressed my desire for God's best for him and our country. That truly is my desire. Even though I differ strongly about some issues, I still want God's best for him. I believe God's best for anyone is to love and follow Jesus with all of their heart.
I also invited him to come to our church. That would be very interesting. There is the possibility of a strong argument. I think it would be cool if he came and had a good time. We have some wonderful and interesting people at our church that I think would be good for him to meet. How could he not smile at some of our children here? We could give him a tour of a chicken house, a farm, cows, a deer stand, ponds, hair salons, and some very hospitable homes. If everyone could just relax and have fun around the table telling jokes and stories I think it would be fun. He probably will not take me up on the offer, but I would love for him to if he would.
Criticizing government leaders seems to be very in vogue these days. Of course, there is plenty to criticize. When I look into Scripture, I see God commands me to pray for those in authority. The Bible says in 1 Timothy 2: 1-2, "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence." It seems to me that I can do a lot more good praying for my government leaders than I can do by criticizing them. As followers of Jesus, we are to work for change in our government and to be a voice for truth. We are to have great courage in confronting injustice and immorality. Our great hope is in God and not the political system of the day. Paul's government was so much worse than ours is today and he does not complain in the pages of Scripture. So, I'm going to focus on praying for our government officials. If you are a member of Hopewell, be ready to cook your favorite meal if the President decides to come here. We'll definitely have a covered dish afterwards and I know he'll love the food!
Praying in the abundant life,
Barry
3 things I thank God for today
1. Our government is much better than Paul lived under
2. I live in a democracy
3. Glasses
No comments:
Post a Comment