My God and My Country

Why the Old Testament is Relevant Today 

by Doktor Riktor Von Zhades

Brethren:

Many Christians tend to overlook the Old Testament, or worse tend to dismiss it as a book that is no longer relevant to their lives. Some see it as one pastor had written that it was full of thou shall and shall not, and others as a book of laws, impossible to live under, but it didn’t matter because all who are saved are under the blood of Jesus.

Certainly there is a smidgen of truth about trying to live perfectly under the law,as no one has, and ever will with the exception of course of our Savior. However, those that endeavor to do so will find themselves practicing legalism instead of the mercy, forgiveness and grace, as required by God. Such were the pharisees, who Christ pointed out as men living as rotting tombs, clean on the outside, decayed and corrupt on the inside. But friends, the Old Testament is still most important, for it is part of the unifying factor of our beliefs.

Consider then today, how we as a nation that have our laws based on Judeo-Christian thought, have fallen away from God’s word. We have forgotten the warnings of Moses, of Joshua, the prophets and many other contributers about doing such. Seemingly God no longer has first place in our hearts, as we are distracted by so many other things. Politics, as one example has torn away our once strong beliefs and has fractured us into a continuance of ever smaller pieces until even our own identities are suspect to ourselves.

J. Phillip Yancy¹ has noted in his writings that all of this has happened in our prosperity as a nation. In particular he cites the Book of Ecclesiastes on how the author states that all is vanity, that it is all meaningless unless we first and foremost revere and seek God.² Moses, (Read Deuteronomy Chapter 28) near the end of his life had given the children of Israel a dire warning that basically came down to this: Follow God and live, deny Him and be cursed. Likewise Joshua (Read Joshua 24:15) had written that he and his house would choose God.

Dear reader, it is therefore urged by this editor, that you return to your first love, put Him as your prime reason for doing all things. (Read Revelation 2:1-5) Do not cease to pray for our nation, and it's leaders, and for all people in and about it.

1 J. Phillip Yancy “The Bible that Jesus Read”

2 I would add here that we no long follow the major requirement of God by not loving others and not loving God. Without these two we cannot succeed. - Dr. RVZ