For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12
Documents with writing on them can be powerful – depends on the words, who is addressed, and by what authority.
A personal grocery store list reminding us to pick up a few items at our leisure does not usually pack a punch of importance to anyone except our one household.
But a red and white sign with the word “STOP” causes most people to stop. We recognize stopping says we care about ourselves and others enough to pause and look around, and obeying these signs is a silent, yet evident interaction with other people in mind, as we travel.
Why?
In America, we agreed a stop sign helps keeps people safe while driving. We elected people to figure out ways of managing vehicle traffic safety and, therefore, we live by rule of law, reaping the benefits.
But make no mistake. Some poorly vetted laws are passed resulting in negative, unintended consequences. For the most part, however, we live by good laws, written to help us remain prosperous and free. The stop sign is one example. Now consider a much older law, words on very old paper at this point: the foundation of American freedom.
These words are our U.S. Constitution, the supreme law of our land, effective for all Americans, without preference over one political party or another.
The preamble Gouverneur Morris wrote in 1787 reminds us of the powerful words that make up our Constitution. Morris’ introduction speaks volumes about the timeless relevance of the whole document:
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
We, as Americans, have chosen to elect leaders to uphold what our Constitution says with recognition of the framers’ original intent. This means we learn history and preserve it – good and bad, what we like and do not like, for the sake of rising above and following through toward a more perfect union, as Morris penned.
This year marks the 228th anniversary of the signing of our U.S. Constitution in 1787. September 17, 2015 is Constitution Day and Citizenship Day.
How do such words endure for so long as the oldest Constitution in the world?
With these powerful words:
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12 NIV
Without a moral people, our U.S. Constitution could not last.
Like it or not, no nation survives ignorance of right and wrong. God’s Word, the Bible, is the most potent, authoritative, foundational document we will ever read. The only way we have a rule of law and follow it is through a humility toward the living God who spoke the world into existence.
It is by seeking God individually and as a nation, we will survive further. If we elect leaders callous against timeless principles that sustain freedom, including a moral compass to direct their decisions, they will carelessly throw out those principles little by little as to them, they are waste. But to the American citizen humble before the living God who is the author of freedom, his eyes are opened to the fact they are priceless treasure.
At the Constitutional Convention of 1787, people waited outside Independence Hall. After proceedings, a lady asked of asked Benjamin Franklin, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” With no hesitation whatsoever, Franklin responded, “A republic, ma’am, if you can keep it.”
If you can keep it. We will not keep what we cannot value.
As Americans, we must remain personally responsible and careful about the people we ask to lead this nation. We are in charge of our government and must realize that we, through civics and our republican form of government, run our own land. This doesn’t happen out of nowhere. We must educate ourselves and never stop learning, especially history.
American pastors would do well to remind their congregations that reading the scriptures, and the Declaration of Independence with our U.S. Constitution, all still relevant words, potent words, helps lead to greater understanding of world history and the reasons for the blessings we know as a nation.
John Adams gave us fair warning: “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion.” “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people”. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
