Oh Say Can You See

“And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The Lord Is My Banner,”

‭‭Exodus‬ ‭17‬:‭15‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Via TJC

Imagine you were back in elementary school and your teacher put a small American flag on their desk and asked you to write down what it meant to you.  What would you write? How does the flag make you feel when you see it? When you see one of the giant Stars and Stripes over a car dealership on a windy day does it stir something up? Do you have a neighbor who flies the flag faithfully, maybe one who you know has served our country? Do you fly an American flag at your house?

Where is your allegiance?

Flags are symbols meant to draw us to something we have given our allegiance to.  This is why we learn and say the pledge of allegiance starting at a young age. As kingdom men who live in America our allegiance to the flag is honoring to God who put us in this particular place at this particular time. As imperfect as it may seem sometimes we have been blessed to be citizens of the greatest country that has ever existed. The flag should remind us every time we see it of God’s blessing on our lives, which is worthy of our allegiance. 

As kingdom men our ultimate allegiance is not to our country or its flag but our banner, Christ. Jesus told us to “render under Caesar what is Caesar's", which I think could mean allegiance to our flag. But he concluded with “render to God what is God’s”. As you consider and celebrate our flag on Flag Day, thank God for blessing you to be an American, but more importantly for being a citizen of His Kingdom.

The rest of the story

Flag day was actually started by a school teacher named Bernard J. Cigrand who did just what I described all the way back in 1885. Flag Day became a passion for him and his commitment was eventually recognized by President Wilson in 1916 and then signed into law by President Truman in 1949. While not a federal holiday it is still a great day for us to reflect on our blessings.

Battle Order

Do what Mr Cigrand asked his students to do. Ask yourself what the flag means to you.  Has it just become another symbol in the background of your life? Is it a political statement or symbol of honor? Send a text or email to whoever sent this to you and tell them what it means to you.

If you don’t fly an American flag at you house today would be a great day to go get one and put it up.

God Bless America!!!