I Pledge Allegiance

"I pledge allegiance to God the Father who is faithful and sovereign, to Jesus Christ who paid the ultimate price redeeming my life and to Holy Spirit who speaks to me and through me, who is my Constant Companion."

These are words I jotted down after worship at Hope Chapel on Sunday morning June 14. I, at the time, had no idea why the word "allegiance" and what it truly means kept coming to my mind during worship. I got into my own little world with my God and began to pledge my "allegiance" to him. The word has been on my mind for almost two weeks now and I'm beginning to see why. I will share with an open heart and a love and desire for God to be glorified.

I knew that Sunday morning God had put that word into my spirit and I would eventually sit down and google what the word "allegiance" means. That was just a few minutes ago and I love, love, love my God and the way he speaks.

Allegiance: An allegiance is a duty of fidelity said to be owed, or freely committed, by the people, subjects or citizens of their state or sovereign. -Wikipedia

He is the Sovereign One I pledge my allegiance to. His heaven is my state of which I am a citizen. My fidelity (fidelity: quality of being faithful or loyal-wikipedia) is owed and freely committed to being in Christ Jesus, in whom I am made whole and complete.

In the midst of the tragedy in Charleston, my heart broke this morning as I finally sat down to read about what happened to those beautiful people in that beautiful church worshipping and learning about our beautiful sovereign God on that beautiful Wednesday night. I pray for healing that only our God can bring. My heart breaks to think also that our nation can be so torn apart. I pray for healing that only our God can bring. The fact is that I am an American and thankful to be one. I am a white southerner and that will never change. The fact is that I also had nothing to do with either of those things. I didn't choose to be born to Ben and Linda Rice in a small town in Georgia in the United States of America. I had NOTHING to do with it. God sovereignly chose all of those things. He decided. He decided where all of us would be born and what color skin all of us would wear and he said, "It is good!" In the midst of tragedy of this magnitude the enemy of this world would love to cause us to hurt even more. That's why I choose to trust that God knows what he is doing today and knew what he was doing in the beginning. I hate the things that have happened in our past and I also know they cannot be changed. I also know and believe that all things can work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purposes.

So today, I encourage myself once again and anyone reading to think about what or whom we really choose to pledge our allegiance to. Is it really a flag we pledge to? Eventhough I get chills and place my hand over my heart every single time I hear the national anthem of our country, it is not my hope. It is not where I put my faith and trust. I pledge to something greater, someone greater. I pledge my life of service, faithfulness and loyalty to the One True God who is beautifully sovereign, who is my hope, who is my redeemer, who is my Constant Companion. I pray you would choose the same.

I believe when we do this, our nation will come together and be healed. God will be glorified again and Jesus will become known and we will be in him, not ourselves. Our God is greater. The light we have is greater than the darkness we face. We're not alone in this Nation under God, Nothing is too hard for our God.

"We're Not Alone" by Elevation Worship