Remember or be a memory

By: Steve Huston

Our founders, those men who expressed so eloquently, “We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our Sacred Honor,” would be rolling over in their graves right now if it were possible. They put their lives and their families on the line to preserve and to protect the freedoms they knew to be the God-given unalienable rights of all people. What have we done with their sacrifice, and the sacrifices of the many others through the years, who gave up so much to protect and to promote the freedoms that we enjoy, given to us from the Hand of God? From her founding and the development of a Constitutional Republican form of government, God has blessed America in so many innumerable ways; and in return, America has long been known as a nation that has attempted to pass those blessings on to others. We have done so imperfectly; yet we have shone the light of freedom, liberty, and self-governance as brightly as our imperfections would allow. As bad a wrap as the Left would force upon America, it is still the light that attracts many from around the world, leaving the darkness of their own country for a better way of life.

That’s not popular to say in today’s culture; but the truth has been drawing fire and being censored for quite some time now. That’s because “Truth is the first casualty of war;” and we are in the midst of war, a culture war and a Marxist revolution, both of which are closely tied together.

Each of us is witnessing a plethora of things that we “never thought we’d see.” Bernard Kerik’s list highlights several from my own list, and probably yours. “I never thought I would see the day where the USA is pro Iran, anti-Israel, entertaining Marxism over the Constitution, promoting racism vs. stopping it, and taking care of illegals over US citizens. The US is in CRISIS!”

That we are a nation in crisis no thinking or discerning person can doubt. Many intelligent people will have varying answers as to why America is in such dire straits. Simply put, when men stray from the Word of God and when a nation denies its history and walks away from its guiding laws, such a nation and its people will be in crisis. We could argue over which specific “sin” was the linchpin that eroded our foundation, causing us to fall far from where we once were; however, that would be an exercise in futility. From here, only repentance first and returning to our beautiful Constitution, secondly, will draw us out of the despairing depths of the miry clay that we find ourselves caught in.

The Lord put safeguards in us through an admonition to “keep” His commands; that means much more than simply obeying them. It means to guard them, to protect them, to hedge about them. In other words, they are to be seen and kept as holy, not just in our actions but in our heart and mind as well. We need personal and national revival of holiness and putting God in His rightful place. Next, we need to remember that…

We are a Constitutional Republic.  Our founders knew that men and values may change; so they crafted the Constitution to be the highest civil authority, putting safeguards in place for the people’s sake. Thomas Jefferson wisely said, “In questions of power then let no more be heard of confidence in man; but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.”

The Constitution starts with the “Preamble.” That in itself is a kind of safeguard; if what the majority of people or the government desires to do doesn’t pass the preamble test, then it’s not legal, it’s unlawful. I encourage you to read it. Another safeguard would include enumerated powers; if the government wants to step into something outside its designated authority, it is illegal. Our founders blessed us with other safeguards as well, separation of powers and a checks and balances system to name a couple. Self-governance is meant to be the prime government in the United States, but we’ve largely given that up.

Gary Benoit writes in The New American magazine, “Under the Constitution, the federal government may not impose any law it chooses. Demagogues may whine about the ‘will of the majority,’ but the Constitution created a government of law, not of men, a republic and not a democracy.”

Reader, we are a nation of law. That should be of great comfort to us. The Constitution limits the government to protecting our God-given rights; and it limits the people, even as a majority, from going through the government to violate those same rights. It’s imperative that we get back to lawfulness, fully following the Constitution instead of allowing individuals to cherry-pick phrases that they twist and abuse for the furtherance of their own personal or group agendas.

Mr. Benoit finished his article with this obvious, yet enlightening, comment. “If the founders were alive today, they would undoubtedly be horrified at the extent to which the Constitution is ignored, misinterpreted, and circumvented. But the problem is not the system itself, rather the perversion of the system. All that is necessary to restore good government is to abide by the Constitution—the very document that every member of Congress, every president, and every Supreme Court justice pledges to uphold.”

True repentance, which would result in a resolve to lawfulness from the heart, is what is needed today. Each step we take moves us along the path to freedom or enslavement, liberty or licentiousness, and holiness or hubris. Which path will we walk?  The wisest man of all time states, “He that followeth after righteousness and mercy findeth life, righteousness, and honour. (Proverbs 21:21)”Lord, guard our steps; strengthen our resolve to righteousness (lawfulness) and mercy, I pray.

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