Endowed by Our Creator

by Pastor Greg Laurie

In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote,
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." But we often forget that these rights must be remembered in the light of being "endowed by our Creator."

It seems as though many people are trying to forget about our Creator. In the wake of 9/11, instead of America remembering God and heading in the direction of faith, we have ironically steered in the opposite direction. As President Abraham Lincoln once said,

We have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined in the deceitfulness of our hearts that all these blessings that we see in our country were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.

America's tendency to forget its Creator and rely on its own strength is why our Christian presence and influence have never been more important. In light of our upcoming Presidential Election, I want to emphasize two things that we should be doing to bring our nation back to its Creator. We can find these two important points from God's Word to Israel at the dedication of the temple:

"If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land."
(2 Chronicles 7:14 NKJV)

First, we need to "pray and seek [God's] face." We need to pray for our elected officials, our troops, and for our country as a while. In fact, Scripture commands us to pray for this in authority (see 1 Timothy 2:1-2). But what do we pray for? We pray that God will give wisdom to those over us and provide protection for our land. Most importantly, we must pray for a spiritual awakening in America, because God promises that He "will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their Land."

Two, we need to "turn from [our] wicked ways" and live as real Christians. If only we would really live the Christian life as Christ intended. When Christians live godly lives, we can make a difference in the world. Making a difference includes voting. But sadly, many Evangelical Christians are not voting in the Presidential Election. There are 60 million Evangelicals in the United States and 26 million of them are not even registered to vote. We need to make our biblical worldview known. We need to vote.

Proverbs 29:2 says, "When the godly are in authority the people rejoice; but when the wicked are in power they groan." In the upcoming election, we have an opportunity to vote for godly people and godly laws. We have to vote. So as you prepare to cast your ballot, make the time to pray and seek God's will for the election of our future president.