Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.

Proverbs 16:3, NIV (1978)

 

I used to look at this verse from a primarily selfish point of view. I wanted to succeed in what I wanted to succeed at, and I liked the idea of God assisting me in that success. It wasn't that I was being intentionally selfish, but I have to admit that selfishness was my main motivating factor. That motivation has to be changed if we are to ever succeed at the subject of this article.

 

Do you want America back? I know I do, and I believe that most decent people agree. For those around my age, we have memories of a safe America. Children could pretty much roam their neighborhoods without fear of molestation, and parents could allow them to do so without having some government agency investigating them for endangering their child. Back then, law enforcement was engaged in protecting the innocent from those who would do them harm, so it was the people with evil intent that had to be worried about the law coming down on them. Don't misunderstand my point in this as I still feel that law enforcement is doing the best it can, but they are often hamstrung in their work by politicians with motives that run counter to the best interest of their constituents. As a result, our police are often limited in the protection that they are able to offer. 

 

When we were younger, most people went to church and believed in both God and Christ, as well as in both heaven and hell. Since they understood reward and punishment, they were pretty much self-policing. While there were certainly perverts and deviants who rejected both societal norms and God, such people were relatively rare and were not much of a threat to those who believed in God and decency.

 

Which brings me to the next point: That was an era when people did not openly mock God or morality. People really did believe in a higher standard which came from a Being who was higher than them. Furthermore, they recognized that standard as beneficial to both they and society as a whole. As a result, most people were eager to do that which was right and approved by God, because they saw the benefits of doing so - and why not, for they had reaped those benefits all of their lives.

 

Why, they even could tell a boy from a girl!

 

But then something changed. People got too educated. I don't mean that they learned too many facts, but they began to be "educated" in things that were simply not so. Things like "do your own thing" and "God is dead". The Bible and prayer were removed from school and from all other areas of the public square. The results were slow but very predictable. Whenever anyone rejects God as the authority, they have to replace the void that such a rejection leads to.

 

So, they replaced the authority of God with the authority of men - and especially with their own authority. You saw "cool" teachers telling their students not to trust anyone over 40, and that specifically meant their parents and any old fuddy duddy such as a Sunday school teacher or preacher who might have the old-fashioned notion that God was in charge and that His ways were to be obeyed. Since people were now their own "bosses" they now made their own rules. Tune out, drop out and get high was a very popular new "gospel". It allowed people to do what they wanted, drink what they wanted, smoke what they wanted and sleep with who they wanted. Such a cheap thrill philosophy was fun while it lasted, but it came with very expensive consequences.

 

People became addicted to behavior that was destructive. The children that were playing house soon discovered that such behavior came equipped with very real responsibilities and very real consequences. As a result, they became addicted, depressed and sometimes pregnant. They were understandably confused and scared, and they demanded that someone do something about it. So, they legalized abortion and promoted the mass production of pills that would take away their newly acquired depression. In essence, they sought cures for the symptoms of their depraved behavior instead of repentance. And now, what do we have?

 

We have cities filled with criminal behavior. We have authorities who cheat to maintain that authority. We have perversity so vile that even the impolite have to turn their heads and cover their eyes. We have people in positions of power attacking their own citizens by aiding and abetting illegals to come into their country who will do them harm. We have schools in larger communities who insist on girls sharing their most private facilities with boys, and then the school boards in these same larger communities threatening anyone disagrees with arrest. We have streets that are no longer safe for children to roam because of the perverts who are present, and instead of arresting those who would harm our children, we have the parents arrested for not keeping a close enough eye on them.

 

We have a national debt that is a national disgrace. We have churches closing down and homeless shelters opening up. We have households with both mom and dad working who cannot make enough to pay their bills. We have an intrusive government who cares less about a child being harmed and more about what you might say or agree with on social media. We have cameras on every corner to watch our every move, but we rarely use the evidence on those cameras to prosecute criminals, for we are too busy prosecuting the innocent for new crimes whether real or imagined.

 

Our large cities are filthy and unsafe, and their filth and crime is seeping out into the suburbs. And we look at all of this and realize that something has to be done, but we are honestly at a loss as to know what to do. A large reason for that loss is the fact that so many who have complained of the wrong are being hassled by the very ones they elected to protect them from real crime and real danger.

 

So, what is a person to do? How do we get America back?

 

You may not like the answer, and I know that you won't like the work and responsibility that this solution has, but here goes: We will have to repent!

 

And then, we will have to commit our ways to the LORD - not so that we can have our own selfish desires met, but in order that we might serve Him in His way so that His purpose can succeed. For the truth of the matter is that the America that we miss and that is now on life support was a Christian nation with Christian values. We have lost those virtues because we have failed to act like Christians are supposed to act. And how exactly are Christians supposed to act?

 

As servants!

 

I warned you that you might not like the answer, but there it is. If we are ever to succeed at getting our nation back, we are first going to have to come back to God and to His ways. And that requires that we serve instead of being served, for the success we seek is only available to those whose hearts and ways are fully committed to God. We can get America back, but it is going to take a lot of hard work. It will begin with us all putting aside our selfish desires and replacing them with a desire to serve. Most will not choose this path, but you can. And if you will - if you will truly commit your way to the LORD, then your plans will succeed. But if we do not, then America will be lost.

 

The sad truth is that it may be too late for America, but it is not too late for you and those you love. All you have to do to obtain such success is to commit your ways to the LORD! Aren't you ready to give that a try for a change? You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by such a commitment, so why not start right now?