Election season is in full swing in the U.S. For many local offices, voting booths will open in the next week. Candidates have also thrown their hats into the ring for the office of President of the United States, with the election a year away. Each major political party has held at least one televised debate, and there’s already been plenty of mudslinging.
Does any of this matter to God? Read what Billy Graham said in his My Answer column:
Q: I know the elections are still many months away, but I’m already tired of all the name-calling and the overblown rhetoric. I’ve decided just to shut my mind to it all. I don’t think God really cares about politics anyway, does He?
A: God cares about everything that affects our lives—including who our leaders will be and how our society will be governed. That’s one reason why He commanded us to pray for our government and its leaders. Would He have told us to do this if He didn’t care about good government? Of course not. The Bible says, “I exhort first of all that you make supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings for everyone, for kings and for all who are in authority” (1 Tim. 2:1-2).
Many readers probably can sympathize with your attitude toward too much rhetoric or too many ads. But don’t let these blind you to the importance of our elections or cause you to shut your mind to our nation’s need for honest and able leaders. Our system may not be perfect, but it’s far better than that in many other nations.
Pray for our nation, especially as we look forward to elections a year from now. Pray especially that God will raise up leaders who will stand for justice and morality, and will seek God’s will in all they do.
Pray too that our nation will turn to God, and that we may experience true spiritual revival. Increasingly we seem to be pushing God out of our lives as a nation—and this will have tragic consequences. Don’t let this happen to you, but make sure of your commitment to Christ and seek to follow Him every day. The Bible’s standard is still true: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” (Ps. 33:12).
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