God is NOT Your President!
Those of us privileged to live in the United States live in a democracy, or, better-termed, a republic. Citizens elect officials to govern for them, and choose those representatives and senators who will best legislate according to their interests. In recent years we've seen an increasing disregard, contempt and worse, for the President and other officials high in government. People freely voice their insults, opinions and utter rejection of them openly on social media and all other forms of public communication. No holds are barred. Contempt reigns.
Unfortunately, some who profess to be Christians have been caught up in the same wave. They think nothing of slamming each other with very unchristian language as they unleash their political views and preferences. Jesus' admonition to love on another is lost in the morass of insults and worse.
Fortunate as we are to live in a free country, that fortune has a dangerous downside. Christians think they can treat God the same way they view and castigate elected officials and get away with it. How wrong they are!
God is NOT our president! When you are really born again (today many profess to be born again but have never tasted the true life of faith), you move from the tyranny of this world to the kingdom of heaven. You move from slavery to the devil to servanthood in the kingdom of God. Jesus' teaching in Matthew is filled with the Kingdom ruled by the King and what He expects of us as His citizens.
A monarchy differs greatly from a democracy. A king is not elected. He assumes the throne by inheritance and blood line. He rules for his lifetime. His word is absolute and meant to be obeyed to the max. Rebellion of any kind is against the law and is dealt with justly.
A king's subjects are expected to give him respect, honor, and loyalty. They know or are expected to know what he has decreed and to obey him. Ultimately, their work and what they produce is the property of the king. His beneficence allows them to claim ownership of it, but it is his, after all. His subjects obey what the king commands, whether they agree with him or not. After all, HE is the king and the decider of what shall be or not be.
The growing rebellion in our democracy is seeping into how Christians treat God and His infallible word. They think they can choose what they will believe and obey, based on their own sense of convenience and preference. It seems acceptable for them to listen to the Holy Spirit when they want to or to put Him off if His direction goes opposite to what they prefer.
Even today Christians disregard the clear declaration of II Chronicles 7:14, which says,
If My people (the King's people)
who are called by My name (Christians)
humble themselves (get down off their pride)
and pray (seek Me because I am their Source of all they need)
and seek My face (open the way for intimate communication which they have closed by their disobedience)
and turn from their wicked ways (repentance from independence, disobedience, pride, arrogance, lack of concern for lost souls all around us, disregard for the voice of God through His Spirit and His word), THEN
I will hear from heaven (on His throne as KING!)
will forgive their sin (God will be merciful to the intentional violation of His commandments by His people when they repent and turn back to Him)
and will heal their land.
Healing of the land is subsequent to all the other steps God outlines first. Yet, in today's climate, Christians who pray for God's healing of our land evidence few tears of repentance and humility. Have they really sought His face with repentance and brokenness? Is having our nation restored to their 'normal' comfort level more important than pleasing God, restoring intimacy with Him and making His will supreme?
Why do believers today treat God like He's their President whose word is important, but remains for them to selectively choose what to obey? We can't expect the beneficent care only a king can give to His people when we treat God like He's merely our President.
God, our KING, promises that when the people called by His name as members of His kingdom will humble themselves, pray, repent and seek His face in fellowship,
--THEN He will forgive their sin!
--Then HE will heal the land!
God is NOT our president. He is our KING!