It's Time To Vote

It's time to vote. As a citizen, it is your duty, privilege, and right. You hold it in your hands; you are responsible for it. It is also a tool that you must use to shape our nation. That is how it has always been used.

When the Founders were forming the U.S. Constitution, they voted. These votes came after long, deliberate, and sometimes heated conversations. They wrestled with great ideas and thorny problems. And then they voted.

They agreed with the passage in Jeremiah 17:9 that states, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" So they decided not to put too much power into any one person's hands. Then they voted on Separation of Powers.

They saw the government envisioned in Isaiah 33:22, "For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; it is he who will save us." With that vision, they separated the powers into the Judicial, Legislative, and Executive branches of government. Their votes created the first three articles of the Constitution.

The Founders agreed with the wisdom revealed in Exodus 18:21: "But select capable men from all the people — men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain — and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens." So they decided to create a republic, where we select leaders who then represent us and are constrained by the law and the Constitution. And they voted to affirm Article 4, Section 4 of the Constitution.

They understood the command of God in Leviticus 19:33-34 - "When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the Lord  your God." In obedience, they agreed to an orderly accommodation of foreigners in this new country, Rules of Naturalization. Then they voted and approved Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution.

They agreed with the warning found in Deuteronomy 17:15 - "Be sure to appoint over you the king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your own brothers. Do not place a foreigner over you." In light of this they decided that the President should not be a foreigner. Then they established Article 2, Section 1 by a vote.

Over and over, the Founders used the truths they found in scripture to inform their deliberations and their votes. They weren't perfect. Sometimes they got it wrong. In 1784 Thomas Jefferson introduced a bill in the Continental Congress that would have banned slavery in the entire United States. It was strongly supported by George Washington, Benjamin Rush and many of the other Founders. Unfortunately, it failed to pass by only one vote. The nation became misshaped.

For nearly 200 years this nation would struggle with an issue that led to things like the Civil War, the Birmingham Church Bombing, and the Watts Riots in L.A. Each of these scars might have been avoided if there was just one more vote in 1784. A vote that was informed by the truths we find in scripture. A vote that would have helped shape our nation for the better.

Now it is your turn. How will you use your vote? You hold it in your hands; you are responsible for it. It is a tool that you must use to shape our nation.

Some day you will have to answer for how you used your vote . . . even if you choose not to use it. It's your choice. Choose well.

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