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Have you voted today? If not, there is still time!
As I mentioned in yesterday's devotion, despite the widespread corruption in politics, there are still those who serve well as politicians and have pure and genuine motives. I believe the Huckabees are an example of those who have good intentions and strive to serve well in government. I spoke with Mike Huckabee at the Texas Faith, Family, and Freedom Forum in September. We talked about how we went to the same school, Southwestern Baptist Seminary in Fort Worth, TX. After dinner, he spoke and shared some good words with us. The joke was that everyone really wanted to hear his daughter, Sarah, speak, but she could not make it... but he was available. He told the true story about how while he was the governor of Arkansas, it was impossible to get a meeting with him if you did not have an appointment. They had four levels of electronic entry you had to pass through. At one of the four electronic doors, two state troopers greeted you and asked for your identification. He said, one day, he was working at his desk, and his back was to the door. He felt like someone was in the room with him. He looked up, and a lady was literally standing over him. He said she was dressed kind of sloppily, and she was asking him for money. It startled him, but he said all was well and she posed no threat, because the person was his daughter! Sarah, who was a college student at the time, had come to see her dad. He said she got through to him because she had access. He then made the point that we as followers of Jesus have access to God and can go to Him anytime in prayer. I thought it was a great analogy.
4 out of 5 Americans have negative feelings about our government. Pew Research says only 22% of adults have a good view of government. Perhaps that helps explain why 32 million Christians stay home and do not vote. I do not think they should abstain from voting, but I understand why some do.
We are bombarded with news about the government with words like politics, races, run-offs, early voting, campaigns, Supreme Court, press conferences, etc. But what does God's Word say about government? What does the Bible say about how we should relate to government and how the government should relate to the people?
Romans 13 answers these questions and many others. Remember, Paul is writing to both Jewish and Gentile believers, but one thing they had in common was that they did not like the Roman government. Paul had been imprisoned in both Jerusalem and Caesarea, and he would be imprisoned in Rome too. He would eventually be executed by order of the Emperor of Rome, Nero.
Take about one minute of your time to open God's Word and read Romans 13:1-7. We will look into these verses in more detail this week in our remaining three days of our devotionals. I am so grateful to God that He has not left us without clear instructions on how God's people should relate to government and how the government should relate to the people.
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