Early in the Israelites’ journey to the Promised Land, God gave them, and all of us today, a beautiful and loving gift to help us live in harmony and happiness with one another. After crossing the Jordan river, the Israelites trusted in God and His wisdom and experienced harmony, happiness, and peace. However, history shows that time and again the Israelites discarded God’s gift in hopes of finding happiness in “human wisdom” and by embracing false gods. Instead of finding happiness, they encountered disharmony, discontentment, and ruin.
It was only when they returned to God and the truth and timeless wisdom of His Ten Commandments that they again experienced the happiness and harmony that God promises when we put our trust in Him and His divine laws.
The founders of our country were well-versed with scripture, trusted God, and understood the history of the Israelites. Therefore, they held a conviction that, without founding our laws and constitution, our country would fall victim to the same ruin the Israelites endured.
President James Madison, frequently referred to as “The Father of our Constitution,” declared,
We have staked the whole of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to The Ten Commandments of God.
However, in 1980, the truth and timeless wisdom of God and His commandments were deemed unworthy for children to learn or even see in their classrooms (Stone VS Graham). In the years that followed, monuments of the Ten Commandments were systematically removed from courtrooms and other public spaces. Subsequently, God and the wisdom of His Ten Commandments have been forgotten, overlooked, and even hated.
Given this direction, should we expect our outcome to be any different than what happened to the Israelites? Are we on a path of repeating their mistakes and ruin?
Recently, Louisiana Governor Landry, 82 House representatives, and 32 Senators demonstrated the necessity to turn back to God and His wisdom. They signed into law HB71, introduced by Dodie Horton, restoring the Ten Commandments to school children. By passing this bill, they joined President Madison and staked their reputations on the truth that the future and fabric of our nation depends on the solid foundation of God and the truth and wisdom of His Ten Commandments. This passage is a great sign of hope.
Let’s rally around these leaders by praying for them and by praying for the leaders of other states to follow their lead.
I also encourage you to personally join these leaders by displaying the Commandments in your homes and offices. But don’t just display them. Be intentional to learn them. Understand how beautiful and freeing they are and how they work for your benefit and the benefit of the children in your life. Embrace them by applying them to your everyday decisions and by teaching them to the children in your life. I invite you to make use of a variety of Ten Commandments images and other free resources to help restore what has been missing since 1980.
Each time the Israelites turned back to God and embraced the truth and timeless wisdom of His beautiful and loving Commandments, they once again flourished. They experienced the harmony, authentic happiness, and peace that God promises to those who keep His Commandments.
Wouldn’t you like to see that harmony, happiness, and peace restored to our culture? If so, begin today to truly learn and understand the beautiful and loving gift given to us by Our Creator.
