"tend and keep"
When God, Gen 2:15, gave this command to Adam it was simple "take care of the garden". Today, the command is the same but the implementation is more complicated.
Americans Have Duties to God Under The Covenant
America was created and has prospered by the Grace of God, under the Covenant expressed and committed to in the Virginia Beach prayer, the Mayflower Compact and George Washington’s prayer.
Duties Of Americans
To understand our duties, as Americans, we must first read and understand the Virginia Beach prayer, the Mayflower Compact and George Washington’s prayer.
Understanding that those prayers were inspired by God in the same sense that the Bible was inspired by God and, therefore, the Covenant they express is God’s Will and our responsibilities.
In Matthew 16:18, Jesus said:
“And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church ; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
The word Jesus said, here translated as “church”, was ekklesia - explained in 1 Peter 2:9 as the “called-out assembly,” or a congregation of believers whom God has called out of the world and “into His wonderful light”. Historically, an ekklesia was the people of a ‘town’ called together to decide on matters of concern to their town - substitute any political subdivision for ‘town’ - county, state, Nation… - the principle holds.
America is a federal democratic republic - federal, because it’s composed of states each with their own government; democratic, because we elect our representatives by secret ballot in open, free and fair elections; republic, because those representatives exercise political power.
God intended and intends that the ekklesia - the people talking and deciding - shall select the people who are then elected and shall agree on the measures which may then become law. One of the positive things political parties do is to write and publish “platforms”, statements of goals, values, principals, … which are intended to make clear the values to which the parties hold.
These platforms are only as meaningful as the involvement of the ekklesia insists.
They are often valuable in the negative - behavior following the election which doesn’t follow the goals and values published are an important measure of the quality of the elected representatives.
What Americans Must Do
Register to vote, in your home town - become part of the ekklesia
Vote in every election for which you are eligible - town, county, state & federal
Follow the guidance of the Lord God, Our Father in selecting candidates and measures to support
Learn, as you are led, about the candidates and measures - if you make the effort Our Father will put the opportunities in your path
Attend “candidate night”, Google the candidates, …
Read the “platform” - would the values and actions stated be something you could defend in front of your ekklesia? Be sure you understand what is actually being said. Pray for discernment so that you are not fooled1
Read the candidates writings; listen to their speeches
Read / listen to what is said of each candidate by their opposition - this is an opportunity to learn more about the candidate and about their opposition - "You can always judge a man by the quality of his enemies." -- Oscar Wilde
Pray for discernment to understand the measures and evaluate the candidates
Talk with other members of your ekklesia about the candidate and measures2
Run for office - school board, library board, board of elections, … If this is too big an ask for you, help someone else do it - place campaign signs, contribute money, talk to your ekklesia about the candidate, host a coffee & cake, … Make the effort and Our Father will give you the time and put the opportunities in your path.
Take time to follow the activities of elected officials and to communicate with them - to complement or to censure as appropriate. Also, take time to talk with the members of your ekklesia about what you learn from this.
Do not allow yourself to be “too busy” for any of the above. If you are busy, as we often are, find a way to stay informed and involved within the bounds of your responsibilities to your family. Make the effort and Our Father will give you the time. Your ekklesia can help with this.
Uncomfortable Truths
In John 14:6:
‘Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”’
We all have read that great truth. It is, sometimes, uncomfortable when we are looking for a way around a commandment or when we are looking for a way to excuse behavior we don’t want to confront.
The commandments of God’s Covenant with America are no less true. We are living in times which demonstrate the wages of sin - the cost of our failure to be the good stewards God expected and expects - millions of unborn babies murdered, little children mutilated, satanic rituals in buildings which pretend to be churches, pornographic books and “drag queen story hours” in school libraries, …
His Unending Love and Almighty Power are being displayed each day as He shows Americans the evil we have allowed to tarnish the luster of His Shining City on the Hill; as he forces the daemon possessed creatures in our government, our schools and our institutions to testify to their evil out of their own mouths.
He knows we know what must be done to restore the luster and drive out the daemons that have infested our Nation. His power is with us “to the end of time”.
Read again America’s Covenant with God - the Virginia Beach prayer, the Mayflower Compact and George Washington’s prayer - these are the definition of what it means to be an American. People who aren’t willing to live up to these can be citizens of the United States, but they cannot be Americans. Just as those who have not accepted Jesus cannot be saved.
Prov 5:3-14 “The lips of a seductive woman are oh so sweet, her soft words are oh so smooth. But it won't be long before she's gravel in your mouth, a pain in your gut, a wound in your heart. She's dancing down the perfumed path to Death; she's headed straight for Hell and taking you with her.”
In America, the ekklesia is often conflated with one of the political parties - this is a mistake, as is the existence of the political parties - see Federalist Papers 10, 51,… for a discussion of “factions” aka political parties, unions, …