“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” - Declaration of Independence, 1776
 
Thomas Jefferson was tasked with penning the words that would become enshrined as the American Declaration of Independence. He drew from contemporaries like George Mason’s preamble to the Virginia Declaration: “All men are created equally free and independent and have certain inherent and natural rights…among which are the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.” A full year before Jefferson sat down, Charlottean military leaders and veterans, businessmen, doctors, judges, nine ministers, and several church elders convened at the Courthouse at Trade and Tryon. Friday was a day of fasting for devout Presbyterians, so most of the attendees would have arrived after attending morning services, reaffirming and reigniting their commitment to God above all earthly kings or governments. That morning an express rider arrived with news of the bloody battles at Lexington and Concord. A record of the morning’s proceedings states, “let us deliberate; let us calculate the issue—the probable result (death under British law); and then let us act with energy, as brethren leagued to preserve our property, our lives, and what is still more endearing, the liberties of America.” Twenty-six men signed the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence:
 
RESOLVED! That we the citizens of Mecklenburg county, do hereby declare ourselves a free and independent people, are, and of right ought to be, a sovereign and self-governing Association, under the control of no power other than that of our God and the General Government of the Congress; to the maintenance of which independence, we solemnly pledge to each other, our mutual co-operation, our lives, our fortunes, and our most sacred honor. Signed on May 20, 1775, the document was carried by Captain James Jack of Charlotte to Philadelphia with a letter asking that the Mecklenburg proceedings be approved by the Continental Congress. The Congress replied that it was premature to declare independence from the Crown. It took just one year for that sentiment to reverse and Congress to task Jefferson with penning an official declaration forming the new nation. That generation of leaders observed ethics revered in Judeo-Christianity. Ben Franklin famously undertook a personal regime to try and emulate a list of twelve virtues: temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquility, chastity, and one suggested by a Quaker friend, humility.
 
Peter writes to believers: “[Christ’s] divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:3-11).
 
Our watch focus this week of America’s 248th birthday celebration is for a national washing of repentance from self-love and pursuit of personal empowerment to a spiritual awakening and renewal of the biblical values that were the backbone of our national birth. “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people He has chosen as His own inheritance” (Psalm 33:12).
 
We pray for national PROTECTION from foreign and domestic adversaries seeking to do us harm! “Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain” (Psalm 127:1).
 
We pray for TRUTH to overtake our national media! “They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen,” (Romans 1:25).
 
We pray for HOPE to push out despair among our citizenry, particularly among our veterans, especially those harassed by suicidal thoughts! “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life” (Proverbs 13:12).
 
We pray for LEADERS who are men and women of virtue, courage, and the original American spirit that inspired and birthed this unique nation! “When one rules over people in righteousness, when he rules in the fear of God, he is like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning like the brightness after rain that brings grass from the earth,” (2 Samuel 23:3-4).