RETURN OF A PRODIGAL NATION
Behold, a certain Father had two worlds. One day the younger said, “Father, give me of my inheritance, make me rich, spiritually and materially.”
And the Father blessed the New World until it became the envy of the Old World. It enjoyed a standard of living undreamed of in the history of mankind. Less than two hundred years later, however, the New World scorned the Father and took a long journey into the far country of materialism and sensuality. There it wasted its substance with riotous living.
And, lo, when it had spent all, there arose great shortages throughout the land – shortages of grain, of oil, of electrical power. And none of the other nations the New World had helped in its days of prosperity offered any assistance.
At last, the New World came to its spiritual senses and said, “Why should this generation perish from hunger? The God who helped Washington at Valley Forge and Lincoln at Gettysburg is still alive today. Let us rise and go to our Heavenly Father and say, “Father, we have sinned against Thee. We are no more worthy to be called a Christian nation; make us as one of the lesser nations of earth!”
And America rose and returned to God.
The “Heavenly Father had compassion on America and said, “Thou art forgiven. Come and rejoice in thy new-found fellowship with thy Father. Bring forth a bountiful harvest from thy amber fields of grain. Bring forth thy oil and natural resources from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Bring me the fatted calves from your wide and open ranges. Let us eat and be merry for this My New World, was spiritually dead, but now is alive. It was lost and now is found.”
And they began to be merry.
But the Old World murmured angrily, “Why all this celebration over the New World – a nation that wasted its moral and material resources in pleasure-mad living?”
The Heavenly Father replied, “O, but it is right that we should be merry because this, My New World, has returned to the God of the Pilgrims who came to America to worship Me according to the dictates of their hearts. Have I not promised that if My people who are called by My Name would humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, I would hear from Heaven and would forgive their sins and would heal their land?” ----- Nat Olson
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Does this sound familiar? I believe it does. We can see both the Biblical account of The Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32), and the behavior of our great nation which was founded on Biblical principles, but has over many years wandered into the far country.
How can the New Country be restored? God has promised restoration on these terms:
As a nation we must:
Humble Ourselves
Pray
Seek God
Turn From Our Wicked Ways
Then, He will hear our cries from Heaven
He will forgive our sins
He will heal our land.
Note: I found this article in some old papers of mine today. It was written in 1976, our country’s Bi-Centennial. It was written by Nat Olsen of Milwaukee Wisconsin. Although it was written 45 years ago I believe it still speaks to us in 2021 just as it did all those years ago. Perhaps, even more so today.
Gary’s Wednesday Word Princeton Christian Church 20 July 2021