The Pledge of allegiance

Isaiah 45:22 “Turn to me and be saved,all the ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other. 23 By myself I have sworn;
from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return:
‘To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.’
24 “Only in the Lord, it shall be said of me, are righteousness and strength;
to him shall come and be ashamed all who were incensed against him.
25 In the Lord all the offspring of Israel shall be justified and shall glory.”

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the Untied States of America,
and to the Republic for which its stands,
one nation, under God, indivisible,
with liberty and justice for all.

I remember the intercom cranking up all the way back in 1976 in my first grade class as we would all stand to recite the pledge of allegiance. I can still feel the weight of what I was doing in pledging allegiance as I knew that both God and America were much bigger than myself. When you scan back through these words, it is clear that God anchors the justice and liberty that is allowed all of us, and that the US was designed to be an agent for Him. I know that the words," under God" were added in 1954, but I believe they were unquestionably assumed before that so the addition was to clarify the initial intent, not change it. What puzzles me now is that my generation in particular fights for the conservative "right" for the kids to say this pledge in public, yet fights against the pledge in action. What do I mean? We are way more concerned with getting to say it right, than walking it out. If we break the speed limits consistently,cheat on taxes, bad mouth the US and assassinate the character of every president elected, even though he was elected by due process within the republic's law, then our life speaks AGAINST the very "pledge" we hold so dear. The weird thing is that every body is so busy, we can't even see our own hypocrisy in the matter because we are to busy discussing how hypocritical politicians are. News flash: the politicians are simply a reflection and a product of our society. They have just learned to play the game a little better.

I do agree that the fight to keep "under God" in the pledge has extreme merit as it is the backbone of the pledge and a surgical removal of it leaves nothing but a bag of bones. I think that it is perhaps more critical for us all to access how we stand in allegiance to God, before we can apply that to our nation. We place way to much value on our words, but what does your heart, soul and actions testify when God says to us "You will bow before me".as He does in Isaiah 45 above? Pride immediately sends us to seek a "more educated" translation that will read "acknowledge". Why? Pride seeks to elevate us as we serve ourselves. We don't want to be controlled, whether it is a government telling you to drive 55 mph, or if it is a true God clarifying what is sin and what is holy. Christ came to invite us into a holy, joyful submission unto the Father. Unlike the politicians who have altered the US, God remains an unchanging anchor of all things good, including my ability to right this and not get thrown in jail as I live in the US, not in a gospel-adverse country.

So examine your life. Do you rant and rave about others actions while ignoring your own need for Christ to lead you into joyful submission? Have you sworn allegiance to God and America, and then acted against that pledge?

God is not asleep on the throne. He knows the root of our hearts. He clearly understands if we truly have trusted Christ to the point of placing our entire life in His hands by faith alone, or if we simply just talk bout it.

It is only when our lives are in His hands that we experience the justice and glory that is found in Christ alone (verse 25). Submission to Him is healthy, joyful and a delight. So let us pledge allegiance, Yes. But let us, by Faith, live it to testify to the world how great our God is!