“U.S. Representative Dan Daniels from Virginia told the National Prayer Breakfast some years ago: “One of the insidious dangers that constantly threaten the American people is that we shall give all of our time and resources to building a wall around the free world, forget the moral foundation of life, and thus be defeated from within. The Great Wall of China was a massive structure, and when completed it gave outward evidence of maximum security. Yet within a short time of its building, it was breached three times by the enemy — not by direct assault, but by bribing the gatekeeper. The collapse of the Wall did not imperil the country, but a failure in character brought about its downfall.
“On the other hand, in fourth century BC Greece, the ruler was asked why, of all the city states of Greece, Sparta alone had erected no walls. He turned to a group of young men nearby and said, ‘Sir, there are the walls of Sparta, and every man a brick.’
So while recognizing the imperative for maximum physical strength, we must see anew that the ultimate security and all that we cherish and hold dear lies in the moral fiber, the spiritual, dynamic strength of our people.”*
This statement about national health is also true for our personal spiritual health. Often our greatest threats come from within. Notice the warning he gives to Israel before they enter the promised land. “Then it shall come about when the LORD your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you, great and splendid cities which you did not build, and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you eat and are satisfied, then watch yourself, that you do not forget the LORD who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Deuteronomy 6:10-12). Don’t be your own enemy!
God loves you!
Mike
*preaching.com
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