This Land is God's Land
By Maryann Turner
Printed in Practical Homeschooling #18, 1997.
Nearly every child of the sixties will recall the lyrics "This land is my land. This land is your land. From California to the Gulf Stream Waters. From the New York Islands to the Redwood Forests. This land was made for you and me." While it is true that this land was made for you and me, the first couple of lines need some work! I think we should sing, "This land is God's land! It was made with His hand! From California to the Gulf Stream Waters. From the New York Islands to the Redwood Forests. This land was made for you and me." Okay . . . so I'm no great songwriter, but you get the gist of my complaint.
We grew up as part of the "me" generation. Although many of us have tried to shake the "I want what I want" attitude of our times, it was ingrained pretty deeply during our childhood . . . from the songs we were taught to the wondrous sights we viewed on our "family centers" (the television). We were taught that this is our land, our money, our government. Our worlds revolved around me. For obvious reasons there was very little room in our "me universes" for God. Our music reflected it, our television reflected it, and our attitudes reflected it. By the time the 70s rolled around, it had gone one step further! God was becoming obsolete! Since we were in control of our entire being, it was time to unburden our schools, our government and our land from the antiquated idea that God was in charge. After all, we had been taught "This land is my land. This land is your land," but were seldom reminded that this land is God's land.
Now we scratch our heads in wonder at what went wrong. Why are many (dare I say most) of our nation's leaders without morals, conscience, or even good old-fashioned common sense? That question is easy to answer! From the time they were babes in their mother's arms they were being bombarded with the idea that man had somehow become master of his own destiny. We became so caught up in the fantasy of our own greatness, that our generation didn't even need to grow up. After all, if we were so wonderful as children, why not continue to behave as children? Who needed common sense, when the world was at our beck and call?
Thankfully, God is still in charge! He is extremely patient with us foolish mortals, and once again He gives us room to change our childish hearts. His faithful children are rewarded, as the lives of our immoral leaders continue to unravel before our very eyes. Now we have a chance to make a difference in our nation, and in our communities. We not only can stand up for God's rights to be heard, but we can train our children to be leaders in God's army. We need to take a stand and speak up for the Creator of our land, and what better way than to instill in our children a positive view of our job as Christian people, family leaders and world leaders?
Our children, who are God's children, need to know about their heritage. They need to realize why their forefathers were willing to fight for their beliefs. Our Bible instructs us to teach our children about history. It is very important that our children see why great nations rose and fell; that they see God is always in control. We have a duty to help our children understand how our government works and why it's set up the way it is, just as we have a duty to teach them to be discerning when they listen to our public officials. Our children need to learn to debate the issues, and they need to know why they believe what they believe.
In order to have future generations of government leaders that do have common sense and ethics, parents need to take the responsibility that God gave them seriously . . . because it is serious! If anyone doubts the seriousness of the situation, all they need to do is look at the many examples of self-centered, immature government leaders that are trying to control our lives now. Granted, we do have some fine, godly men in government positions, but they are few and far between. Let's change that trend with the next generation.
As homeschooling parents, we are in an ideal position to arm our children with all the necessary tools to make a difference in the path our nation is on. Then who knows . . . maybe our grandchildren and great-grandchildren will sing, "This land is God's land. It was made with His hand!"
For more resources on this article's topic, click the link(s) below.
Bible Resources - Curriculum
Worldview Resources - Curriculum
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