Crash! Bang! Crackle! BOOM! When I think superficially about the 4th of July, I think about fireworks, family, the flag, and food! And honestly, I don’t really even like fireworks. Okay, before I get booed out of my own blog, let me qualify that statement. I like the way they look in the sky, but I don’t like the loud noises, and I’m always a bit leery that they might start something on fire.
Now this goes back to an actual experience in my life that occurred on July 4, 1984. I was born and raised in Gillette, WY, and we happened to live just a short way from where they always set off the 4th of July fireworks. It was on the other side of a small pond that was about two blocks from my house. When I was 11 years old, the fireworks display took only about 5 minutes as one tiny spark started the entire bunch of fireworks on fire, and they all went off at once! Now that was quite an explosion, one that I probably won’t ever forget!
Thus, I know the power in those gun-powder-laden fireworks is quite powerful. But there’s something even more powerful than fireworks, and that is the power of God. I truly believe that those that wrote the Declaration of Independence believed in God’s power, and I see that in the fact that God was mentioned three times in that document. The writers explain why they want to be separated from Great Britain, and in the first paragraph, the document refers to “Nature’s God.” Later, the writers mention “protection of divine Providence.” My favorite mention of God is in the second paragraph in the Preamble, where it mentions, “the Creator.” If you want to check out the entire transcript of the Declaration of Independence, you can find it at the U. S. National Archives website. Here’s the link: https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript.
God is our great Creator–He is all-powerful and all-knowing. I Chronicles 29:11 (NIV) attests to the power of God: “Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power/and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,/for everything in heaven and earth is yours./Yours, Lord, is the kingdom;/you are exalted as head over all.”
We serve a mighty and powerful God! He was God in 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was written and adopted and signed, and He is God now. In fact, Revelation 1:8 (NIV) says this: “‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.’”
Although I still probably won’t like the booming sounds of fireworks going off on July 4th this year, I will enjoy spending time with family, thinking about why we celebrate on the 4th of July, and thanking God for His power in our lives!
Thanks for reading, friends!
Love,
Julie
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