[This is one in a series of devotional reflections prepared for Horley Baptist Church during July 2023]
What’s significant about the 4th of July? At least one of the members of our congregation should be able to answer without hesitation. Bonus marks for those who can name the three American past-presidents who died and the one future president who was born on this date.[1] However, leaving aside the activities of some dissident colonialists, what else makes this date memorable?
If you had been a resident of Western Samoa in 1892 you would have good cause to remember the date; on that day the International Date Line was moved, with the result that there were two days with the same date and a year with 367 days.
Very few of us get the opportunity to relive a day of our lives; would we waste the same amount of time, make the same mistakes, have the same regrets? What would you change if you could replay a day of your life? Is it too late to do something about it?
Control of the Samoan islands was hotly contended by various imperial powers during the nineteenth century. Robert Louis Stevenson cautioned the Samoan leaders in 1894:[2]
There is but one way to defend Samoa. …
It is to make roads, and gardens, and care for your trees, and sell their produce wisely, and, in one word, to occupy and use your country… if you do not occupy and use your country, others will. It will not continue to be yours or your children’s, … You and your children will in that case be cast out into outer darkness.
We can see a parallel with the advice that Jeremiah gave to the Israelite exiles in Babylon, in effect to settle down, earn your living and seek the well-being of the country where you live.[3] Is this good advice for us too? We assert that we are not citizens of this world but simply passing through on our way to a better one. Yet, this is where we are for the time being, our behaviour here can have an influence (for good or bad) on those who are living alongside us.
The apostle Paul wrote some advice to Titus to pass onto the congregation he was pastoring:
Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men. Titus 3 v1-2 [NASB]
Are our characteristics and lifestyles a clear declaration of our status as Christ’s ambassadors or is it a case of “When on earth, do as the earthlings do”?
Resources:
[1] Thomas Jefferson and John Adams 1836, James Munroe 1831, Calvin Coolidge 1872
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samoa
[3] Jeremiah 29 v5-7
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Last week’s reflection: The Stuff of Dreams
Contributed by Steve Humphreys; © Steve Humphreys
Thanks for this, Steve. Thought provoking as usual.