I made a bumper sticker today. It has a picture of hiking boots and says, “We will walk in the name of our God forever and ever.” Micah 4:5. When I read the verse, it got me thinking of the great stickers in the tee shirt shops along the Appalachian Trail. But I’ve never seen this verse on a sticker. So for this devotional, I made my own using CANVA, a free bumper sticker generator online.
This verse follows Bible passages about the ravages of war—women raped, children slaughtered, entire cities starving under siege. Such things are hard to relate to while we sit around eating potato chips and watching a stream of entertainment that is unfinish-able. We are the most prosperous people who have ever lived. The only thing keeping our wealth from making us fatter than Jabba the Hutt is that we can afford the time and money it takes to hike and get fit.
Why are we so wealthy? Because your ancestors did some things right. America has stood for justice and fought off sin in many forms. Not in all forms—we tolerated slavery, Jim Crow laws, and racism for too long. But during those times of great sin, many Americans found Christ through revivals such as the Great Awakening. Lost people turned from sin by the millions. Americans repented and sought the Lord and our generation is reaping what they sowed.
In the words of Micah 4:3, our forebears “beat their swords into plows, and their spears into pruning knives.” Men traded war and bloodshed for families and farms. Consequently:
“Each man will sit under his grapevine and under his fig tree, with no one to frighten him … Though all the peoples of earth walk in the name of their gods, WE WILL WALK IN THE NAME OF YAHWEH, OUR GOD FOREVER AND EVER.” Micah 4:4-5.
What American has failed to notice the incredible salaries paid to top-performing movie stars and athletes? Keanu Reeves was paid $30M for Matrix Reloaded. Max Scherzer was paid $56M to pitch—and though he is the highest-paid baseball player, he is ranked #26 on Forbes’ list of highest-paid athletes.
Do you know why we can pay entertainers this way (and yes, athletes are entertainers)? Because Americans have a surplus of both time and money. Our jobs pay well enough that we can work fewer hours, leaving ourselves time to pursue a gluttonous diet of entertainment—and we have enough money to pay far more than we should.
If you can afford to devote both time and money to recreation, then you are rich. And we are rich because our ancestors took their weapons of war to the blacksmith and he beat their swords into plows.
Our ancestors sought God instead of greed, and we are the ones who got rich.
God, teach us to live lives of holiness and hard work in spite of the EASE with which we are surrounded. Never let us become soft, weak, selfish, and fat though we live lives of relative ease and comfort.
“Woe to those who are at ease in Zion” Amos 6:1.
ΑΩ
Household Words: 