Rights

​Welcome to the age of authoritarianism.  Can you pick up a newspaper without finding some new intrusion by politicians or activists who would attempt to further regulate what you can and cannot do?  I fear that many of us are caught in the adrenaline rush to be right, to be treated in a certain manner, and to be left alone by an overbearing big brother.  Are we becoming increasingly preoccupied with the fear of living in a society ever more hostile to our faith?  

There seems to be a growing sense of outrage among many believers today that our religious rights our being threatened. We have never recovered from losing the right to pray out loud in public schools.  We are appalled at the treatment Christians are receiving in what should be a Judeo-Christian nation.  We are finding it more attractive to congregate with those of like-mind making us an even more distinct sub-culture.
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Have no fear!  It is not the authority of government, or the laws of a nation which determine our status.  We may lose our freedoms.  We may find like most people in other lands, that to be a Christian takes not just an act of faith but an act of courage.  Regardless of how we are viewed or what we are told we can or cannot do, it is God's authority which reigns supreme.
 
Meditation
Colossians 2:9,10--For the entire fullness of God’s nature dwells bodily in Christ, and you have been filled by Him, who is the head over every ruler and authority.
 
Our responsibility is to be obedient to our fantastic Father in heaven.  If His Spirit so leads us we may fight to preserve our constitutional rights.  But let us never forget that the constitution of the land is not our primary concern.  Our prime motive should be to march to the beckon and beat of God's voice. If we die at the hands of men, we live forever by the grace of Christ.  If we bow before God's authority our joy will be complete in Him despite our earthly circumstances.  "What He says I will do.  Where He sends I will go!"  He is Lord and that is what matters most.
 
Inspiration
Jesus did not come to earth to insist on His rights though He was the King of kings.  He willingly laid down His life though He was guilty of no crime.  Jesus also did not instruct His followers to insist on their rights.  Rather, He commanded them to go out into the world and preach the gospel, to make disciples.   He informed them that as they obeyed God's authority they could expect to be persecuted. Almost all His early followers brutally paid for their obedience.  They marched without a banner of civil liberty to model a deeper freedom in Christ.  The danger of focusing on our rights is one of spiritual insubordination.  We, not God, become the authority . . . The great dominant note is not the needs of men, but the command of Jesus.—Oswald Chambers in My Utmost For His Highest
 
©1997 Daniel York  ARR. Reveration is the weekly devotional ministry of First Cause.  If you would like to receive these devotionals go to www.firstcause.org and click on the “Click here to receive weekly devotionals” box.  Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed subject to inclusion of this copyright notice.      
 
Ecclesiastes 12:10-The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and to accurately write words of truth.  (Holman CSB)