Vote For God’s Candidate

Election Day 2018 and everything is on the line.  At least as far as the direction this country is going to take America First or Globalism, capitalism or socialism.  Tune in to any one of the talking heads that litter the airwaves and this is it.  This is the BIG one.

As a political science teacher I always tell my students don’t let anyone indoctrinate you.  Don’t let anyone blindly lead you into supporting something you may really disagree with if you knew more.  Study the candidates.  Study the issues.  And then make an informed decision.  I also add one more step.  Ask God who you should vote for.

One side says if the other side wins they’ll make America miserable again.  They’ll put the brakes on an economy ready to go in orbit, erase the border, and unleash the mob.

The other side says if their opponents win they’ll gut social security, close the hospitals, keep illegal children in cages, and continue to confirm judges who will stop common sense gun control and generally bring back slavery.

It’s all a soap opera.  Yes, it makes sense here in a world ruled by sense knowledge.  Yes, it’s important who wins here and now but what about in eternity?  Ten billion years from now will it make much difference if you were a diehard red or a fanatic blue?

I’m not trying to discourage any one from voting.  We should all do our civic duty.  We should all study the issues and then vote our conscious.  As a pastor I’ve always counselled vote for God’s candidate.  Vote for the one who stands up for the things of God.  And remember a vote for the lesser of two evils is still voting for evil.

These things intrude upon us from a world that doesn’t want to take no.  It bombards us 24/7 from TV, radio, and even our phones.  The voices and the images fill social media, the wall-to-wall news spigots, and anywhere else anyone might care to look.

Being a history junky and a politicalholic I have battled my entire life to get my mind right.  I can easily become obsessed with the History of the Future or current events as some people call it.  Until I was thirty years old that was all I had.  I only believed in what I could see, touch, and feel.  I was ruled by sense knowledge. 

But then praise God I met Jesus.  He’d been there all along just waiting for me to notice Him.  Once I did I realized there was no one else I needed to know.  It’s like the Bible.  Once I realized it is God’s Word, His revelation to humanity, the operator’s manual for the planet earth I realized that it was the most important book in the world.  And as a readaholic that’s saying something.

So this morning I wake up on what might be the most important election day of my life and what do I find?

Well, woke up this morning with my mind, my mind stayin' on Jesus.

Casting Crowns describes and defines our situation well in their hit song Jesus Friend of Sinners:

First they aptly describe our current situation:

Jesus, friend of sinners, we have strayed so far away
We cut down people in your name but the sword was never ours to swing
Jesus, friend of sinners, the truth's become so hard to see
The world is on their way to You but they're tripping over me
Always looking around but never looking up I'm so double minded
A plank eyed saint with dirty hands and a heart divided.

Then after more insightful verses that expose who we are and what we’re doing they define what we should do with a question:

Nobody knows what we're for only what we're against when we judge the wounded what if we put down our signs crossed over the lines and loved like You did?

Then they offer a prayer:

Oh Jesus, friend of sinners
Open our eyes to the world at the end of our pointing fingers
Let our hearts be led by mercy
Help us reach with open hearts and open doors
Oh Jesus, friend of sinners, break our hearts for what breaks yours.

The inspiration, knowledge, and hope I always gain from Casting Crowns’ songs always leads me back to the place they got it all: the Bible.

We find a story in the Word of God:

The religion scholars and Pharisees led in a woman who had been caught in an act of adultery. They stood her in plain sight of everyone and said, “Teacher, this woman was caught red-handed in the act of adultery. Moses, in the Law, gives orders to stone such persons. What do you say?” They were trying to trap him into saying something incriminating so they could bring charges against him.

Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger in the dirt. They kept at him, badgering him. He straightened up and said, “The sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone.” Bending down again, he wrote some more in the dirt.

 Hearing that, they walked away, one after another, beginning with the oldest. The woman was left alone. Jesus stood up and spoke to her. “Woman, where are they? Does no one condemn you?”

 “No one, Master.”

“Neither do I,” said Jesus. “Go on your way. From now on, don’t sin.”

We’ll never know until we can ask Him in heaven what Jesus wrote that day in the sand.  But the Pharisees and scholars were attempting to trap Him by using the commandments He came to fulfill.  And he not only fulfilled the old He also gave us a new commandment when He said, “Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.”

As we enter the voting booth today remember as important as this is there is something much more important, something of eternal significance.

Another prayer from Casting Crowns might help us focus:

Help us to remember we are all the least of these
Let the memory of Your mercy bring Your people to their knees.

Pray before you vote and listen to God.  If you are His; His voice is ever there guiding and leading you into the paths of righteousness.  If we do what He tells us to do we’ll always make the right choice and remember His guiding will never conflicts with His Word.

May God bless us one and all as we strive to follow Him and may God bless the United States of America.

Dr. Owens teaches History, Political Science, and Religion.  He is the Historian of the Future @ http://drrobertowens.com  © 2018 Contact Dr. Owens drrobertowens@hotmail.com   Follow Dr. Robert Owens on Facebook or Twitter @ Drrobertowens or visit Dr. Owens Amazon Page / Edited by Dr. Rosalie Owens

Excerpt:

I woke up this morning with my mind, stayin' on Jesus.

Tags:

Election 2018, Dr. Robert Owens, Casting Crowns, salvation, redemption