Tiny Devotional for Wednesday, 11/11/2020

A great GOOD MORNING to all my friends and neighbors out there in Internet Land! And to family members who dropped by, honor a veteran today; with as many in our family who served, it should not be hard to find one.

By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted,
But by the mouth of the wicked, it is torn down.
Proverbs 11: 11. NASB

We have designated this day in the US as Veterans Day. I encourage you to read THIS, as good a history of the day as I’ve found. It took a long time to reach its’ current status, with glitches along the way. 

The Blessing of the Upright. Not every member of the armed forces has been upright, but that term is as good as any to define the role veterans have played in our country. We swore an oath, you see; it has no expiration date. I won’t quote the entire oath (300 word limit!); here’s the first part:

I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic;

Taking the Oath

That, in part, is the Blessing of the Upright.

The Mouth of the Wicked. The wicked build nothing, except their own power; they speak destruction. Here comes a seeming paradox: the oath of the upright is what preserves the right of the wicked to speak badly about them. 

The US wasn’t presented to us intact, like a cheap injection-molded Christmas gift; some assembly was required. 

The assembly instructions are the Constitution. That document DEFINES us, and free speech, the second named right, includes what comes from the Mouth of the Wicked.

By the way, Wicked: behavior is NOT speech.  Take heed.

Peace be on your household.

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