A New Hope

I have not written in a while. I don’t really know why. I have been consumed in a study and preaching from the book of Amos. I have learned a lot and hope that the congregation I serve has too.

Today we know that we have a new president. I hear words that this is a wonderful display of how much better we get along because just forty years ago our nation went through the wars of racial injustice. I am thankful that we are not judging people by the color of their skin – at least on the surface.

There is hope for a renewed hope in the economy and the end of the war. I pray that our new president can lead our country in that direction. People need jobs and no one wants to fight a war – justified or otherwise.

But Amos reminds me that when a nation trusts in itself, economically, militarily, philosophically, or otherwise, then God will not bless that nation. Israel thought that her blessings economically and materially showed that God approved of her standing. Amos told them and us that this is not always the case.God does not bless a nation because of what it writes on its money, the words of its pledge, or what it carves on its buildings. God blesses a nation because of its righteousness.

That is what America needs to do. We don't need to trust in a new president or a new economic direction, or just getting out of a costly and controversial war. We need to be righteous. That is what God challenges his church to do and each one of us. That is my prayer for America.