Call it a case of nostalgia. Or maybe it’s proof of our advancing age. Many of us miss the America that was kinder and gentler toward folks who revere the Bible and its Author. We miss the old country.
That’s well and good to a point. The problem is, I want that country too much. Maybe you, too? We’re not the first.
I'm pretty sure believers in the first century longed for the "old country" of safety once persecution broke out. But that didn't stop them from taking a stand for Christ. Noting their legacy of endurance, Hebrews 11:16 says of them, “they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.”
I suspect that for many of us, the real problem is, we want heaven down here—not up there. Of course, as Christians called to be salt and light, we should do whatever we can to preserve what is right and good about America. But not to the extent we forget this earth is just a stopping place, a campsite for a season.
Sadly, many of us seek the continuance of our comfort and the certainty of our safety more than the hope of heaven. We want our old country more than the new country, heaven. We must set our sights higher!
The antidote is to read about heaven, ponder heaven, talk about heaven, invest in heaven, look for heaven—and live for heaven. That’s the new country—where your forgiveness, your salvation, your rewards, and your Savior can never be canceled!
Where is your heart set—the old country or the new?
But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them. —Hebrews 11:16