AMERICA NEEDS TO TAKE A DEEPER LOOK AT ITSELF
Our Lord told us in the Book of John 8:32: “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Do you know what He meant by that statement? The Lord was attempting to let us know that once we know the truth, we would be made free from the grasp of sin. This implies that if we live the lie, we shall forever be bound by it. As a Christian writer, I spend a lot of time in the scriptures so I can know the truth Christ was speaking about. He was so right in telling us that once we know the truth, we would no longer be bound by the grasp of sin. If we refuse to acknowledge the truth for any reason, we will never be free of the grasp of whatever is holding us back.
As an African American male, I have always known the truth but many of my countrymen seem to be fine living the lie. America has never been the land of the brave and free. America has a very dark and evil past. What the early settlers did to the native people who were already here is simply evil. How they enslaved Africans and treated them is just downright evil. Yet, the typical American still goes around speaking of how noble and great our forefathers were. They speak about how great this nation is as though people of color were invisible and did not face the point of their dagger… the end of a hanging noose… the slave pins where they incarcerated my people. I have known this truth all my life because where and when I grew up… this ugly past was all I saw firsthand. I was born in the segregated south in 1949. That alone should tell you how my life unfolded and the bitter truth we faced being Black in the south. The people of my generation and before know this quite well.
I shouldn’t have to go back through the pages of history to give you an account of what was happening for hundreds of years to my people. Even to this day, the ugliness of bigotry has not faded into the past. No, something always shakes up the waters spilling up the stinky bile that settled down to the bottom. That stench is not gone because America refuses to acknowledge the truth. As long as truth isn’t acknowledged, the evil behind it won’t go away. It simply settles to the bottom until something wakes it up. It comes back full force because it never went away. America is still bound by its evil past because they want to pretend that it didn’t happen. Good luck with wishing it away. God knows the truth and so do His people. He also said, “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.” Matt. 25:40 If you are a true believer, you know exactly what He meant by that statement. But if you refuse to acknowledge the truth you will be bound by the great lie until you do.
Even by me speaking these known truths that our history has so clearly recorded I will be vilified by those who want to wish the truth away and pretend slavery and the slaughter of Native Americans never happened. There are countless souls in the graves in the belly of this land to prove otherwise. No matter how much denial one might attempt, our Lord was offended greatly when the souls of the least of His brethren were wiped out. Who will have to pay for the crimes against both God and mankind? I say to you, whosoever holds on to the lie will be bound by the lie. But whosoever is willing to acknowledge the lie and seek the Lord’s forgiveness will be made whole and free.
For the sake of the soul of America, all need to look in the mirror at the soul of this nation and ask the Lord to shine the light of truth on us so we can be made free. Until we walk into the light of God’s truth, we shall forever be bound by the lie and living in darkness.
It amazes me that the people who still have bigotry in their hearts and hate their fellow countrymen of color think they can claim to serve the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings. Did they not read the Beatitudes in Matthew 5? Did they not read any of the four gospels to understand what our Lord was teaching us? I am not the accuser. The one who accuses you is the same Judge that I will face when I attempt to enter the kingdom of heaven. I realize that every knee shall bow before our Lord and confess every sinful act committed while in the body. All need to seek His grace and mercy. I do this now while in my mortal body so as not to carry it over into death and judgment. I’ll be made free from my sins because I followed the Lord’s instructions. My debts have been forgiven. Can you say the same?
It is because of what I faced for most of my life that I carry the torch of anger in my heart. I try hard to let it go but it is too deep for me to release. Though my life was not as bad as that of my ancestors, I saw enough and experienced enough of the same hate that they did. No, I was not hung on a tree or dragged by a mule or an automobile until death. But I looked into the eyes of my enemy and saw the fiery evil in their soul. Though I try to forgive and forget, my mortal mind cannot let it go. The revenge I seek is a sin and I know it. Who can set me free from such a sin? Only the same Lord that made these statements I quoted to you in this essay. Again, the same remedy that I was given is the one that my perpetrators need to take heed of. I sought the Lord, and He heard my cry. I have been forgiven. My passage has been cleared. I will try to turn the other cheek if possible but what I refuse to allow, evil to live in my heart because the light of truth has been revealed to me.
As a nation, we need to pray and ask the Lord for the forgiveness of the sins we know we committed and for the ones we try to hide. If anger is in our hearts, it attracts the evil ones. If the evil one is in you, the Lord cannot be present. The good news is that we are no longer bound by the evil one because our Lord has already paid our sin debts. All that remains is for us to accept what has been done for us. We shall be made free from the grasp of sin and evil. Naturally, the enemy will not go away quietly. He will always remind us that we are laced with sin. He reminds us that at any point he can call us back to the carpet if we do not remain vigilant. We must keep on the armor our Lord has given us. The moment you let down your guard is the moment he slides back into your heart. We must not allow that to happen ever again.
Yes, America needs to take a very long and deep look into the mirror at itself. If there are any unclean thoughts in our hearts, we need to ask the Lord to make in us a clean heart, one worthy of His grace and tender mercy. I know who I am, and I know what I am. I also know who I belong to and who chastens me to do wrong. It is not by my power and might that I withstand the darts thrown by the evil ones. It is by the power of the living God that lives in me that deflects the piercing darts aimed at my soul. It is to Him I give the glory. After I have done all I can to stand, I will relent unto the Lord. Selah! WAKE UP AMERICA!
