This year, we celebrate the 247th Anniversary of signing the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
Many people have read the Declaration of Independence, but not many understand that it is also a Declaration of “Dependence” upon God.
Look closely at these excerpts: “…the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them…that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions… with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” (emphasis added)
When you look down through history, you can see how our founding fathers relied upon God.
Of the 55 men who signed the Constitution of the United States, 52 of them were deeply committed Christians.The other three believed in the Bible as divine truth and in God’s personal intervention.
America was founded on “In God We Trust.”
Of the first 108 universities founded in America, 106 were distinctly Christian, including the first, Harvard University.
In the original Harvard Student Handbook, it said students must know Latin and Greek so that they could study the Scriptures.
President John Adams said, “The highest glory of the American Revolution was this; it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity.”
James Madison, the primary author of the Constitution of the United States, said: “We have staked the whole future of our new nation not upon the power of government; far from it.
We have staked the future of all our political constitutions upon the capacity of each of ourselves to govern ourselves according to the moral principles of the Ten Commandments.”
“Big Government, Little God” seems to be the motto of many government leaders today.
At this time in our nation, we need to seek God instead of turning away from Him.
As we salute the Red, White and Blue we must remember that this country was founded on freedom of religion, not freedom from religion.
Abraham Lincoln said, “The philosophy in the classroom of one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.”
What do you think our government will be like one generation from now if they are successful in removing every vestige of God from our nation today?
While we celebrate our independence as a nation, let us remember what our forefathers taught us: Do not forget our total dependence on God!

Rev. Doug Johnson is the senior pastor at Raven Assembly of God in Raven, Virginia.