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Respect the President.

December 1st, 2008

Note:  I wrote this a few days before Carlee was born but due to time constraints haven’t posted til now.  Discuss.

I really struggled with the title of this post.  Do I respect President-Elect Obama?

*long pause*

As a citizen of the United States, I’d better support him.  I didn’t vote for him, but I’m not sure the opposition is any more worthy of my support than Obama is.  More importantly, as a Christian, I’d better support him.  My prayer group and I have been reading over Romans 13:1-7 and pondering the effects of what would happen if we actually obeyed these things:

¹Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. ²Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. ³For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, ⁴for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. ⁵Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. ⁶For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. ⁷Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.  (ESV, from Bible.com)

Do I agree with Obama?  Not usually.  Do I support him?  I’ll plead the fifth.  Do I respect him?  I should.

It may be a long four years.  If I’m not careful, the enemy can put very fearful thoughts into my brain about what Obama has the capability of doing and how the effects aren’t usually felt until after he is no longer President.  However, due to the current economic downward spiral of our nation, the laws he could pass and the dramatic results from them could easily be felt very soon.  Too soon.

But, I am giving this to God.  I am praying for President Obama, as hard as it is to say.  I will respect his decisions, even if they are not the right ones, but I’m praying most of all for his salvation and the salvation of those around him.  I want him to be surrounded and supported by Christian people, if at all possible. It makes me teary-eyed to say these things because it’s going to mean a lot of change and a lot of prayers will need to be offered on his behalf.  Am I ready to do this?  I’d better be.

I don’t mean for this to sound like I’m taking the easy way out by not getting involved.  I will get involved when it is necessary.  But for now, we as Americans have made our bed, and now it’s time to lie in it.

Entry Filed under: Life