#588 Govern Part 2

Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people to God-ward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God:

20 And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do.

21 Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens: Exodus 18: 19-21 KJV

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. Matthew 5: 17 KJV

If you call yourself a Christian then you are supposedly a follower of Christ. Like Christ also made clear, let me be clear, this makes me a person of the Book, a follower of God's word and moral law. Christ did not abolish the law but fulfilled it. He did not lower God's moral bar, He did not justify sin, but rather sinners who are being saved from sin. It's not a multiple personality disorder, there is no call to duality, but rather Christ as the head and center of all things. There is not a church you and a politics you, a worldly you and a religious you. In fact, it's worse than you think, Jesus calls us to deny ourselves, take up our cross and come follow Him. Follow Him? What did He do?

Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. John 5: 19

He followed God's word, so much so and so perfectly because He was the Word become flesh to dwell among us. So lets look at the basic moral law, the ten commandments, and see what God is calling right and wrong. How do these commandments affect the way I live and vote?

You shall have no other gods before me

There is only one God, and all others are the invention of men, idols, not the Creator of the Universe. How does that effect my vote? I would rather vote for someone who actually fears God, not someone who puts them self up as a god. I would rather have someone who acknowledges that higher power, puts them self beneath that as directed by Holy Scripture, not pretending at being the moral high bar them self. In my opinion this also eliminates anyone who would want big government, refer to the state as the parent or father of the people. When you vote for such large structures, put your hopes in the ideal of government programs for everything,  then your hope rest in men, who are flawed. God chased them from Babel for good reason, and those who will not have God will find tyrants.

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images

Idolatry was a fairly common practice among the people of the OT time, and in the form of images that were made to look like angels, stars, animals or even mythical creatures of inventive imaginations. But don't deceive your self, men have become idols, success, and even religion that claims the God of the Bible to be it's source, has also made idols. So how could this possibly influence my vote? What do I take from this? Well, what if I made how someone said something more important than what they were saying? What if wealth was to me the greatest measure of good, the highest place I appealed to, that could be the cause for me to forsake justice and mercy. What if I put party, color of skin, social circles or personal vices above all else, are they not then idols to me as well? What if I put myself above all else, might I not then sacrifice others at the altar of my desires? Men who worship idols tend to justify that which protects such an image. 

You shall not take the name of the Lord God in vain

Vain also means empty, and this can apply several ways, but they are all ultimately the same, void of God's substance, essence, counsel or  any true reverence to the Lord's will or place. I do not want to vote for someone who denies God altogether, but it is even worse to claim God for votes when you really have no interest in Him. I have seen plenty of politicians invoke the name of God when it appears useful to them, read selective passages from Scripture when they think it benefits their argument. Men have carried the cross into battle, there is even a story in 1 Samuel 4 about Israel carrying the ark into battle, thinking this would somehow magically afford them victory, but the Philistines took it away.

1 Samuel 4

Not everyone who says "Lord" will enter the kingdom of heaven, but those who do the will of my father. Many will come in God's name and Christ's name, but what is the fruit of their labor, what do their actions show? Many will also say love, charity, concern, well being, fare, equality and prosperity, but all they want is your vote, for you to give up your freedom and trust in them. 

Exodus 20: 1-6