Week 48 Day 1
Don’t Straddle the Fence
We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
1 John 4:6
Order my footsteps by thy word,
And make my heart sincere;
Let sin have no dominion, Lord,
But keep my conscience clear.
There were a lot of fence-straddlers before the Civil War ensued. People hadn’t made up their minds about many issues, particularly slavery. As president, Abraham Lincoln began to warn those who were still holding out. The unity of the nation and the freedom and equality of all people were matters of principle. And principles are not something that can be straddled. “We must remember that he who is not for us is against us,” he said, “and he that gathereth not with us, scattereth.” Lincoln’s pronouncement was reminiscent of the apostle Paul when he wrote to the Romans, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” There is a lot of moral fence-straddling going on these days. Let’s ask ourselves whether we are with God. If not, then according to Lincoln, we’re against him.