The Greatest National Treasure

On this Fourth of July week, it is easy to think of the greatness and the wonder of America. This week, my mind has often thought of some of the greatest national treasures of the United States. In college, I took a memorable field trip to Philadelphia. On a sunny afternoon, we stood in Independence Hall. It put goose bumps on my neck to stand on those wooden floors and see the sunlight stream through tall windows onto the two hundred year old desks where our forefathers signed the Declaration of Independence. Independence Hall itself is a national treasure. The Liberty Bell, with its famous crack is a national treasure. It symbolized freedom on the night that it was rung so many years ago and it still inspires freedom as its image is printed on some of our coins and reproduced in photos & prints all over everyday America. The Fields of Gettysburg, now silent and empty, but once filled with battle, soldiers, and fallen Americans are a national treasure. It symbolizes the great struggle in America for the freedom of all men, regardless of color. It symbolizes a union that cannot be broken or torn. Mount Rushmore, with the larger than life presidential faces carved in the side of a mountain is a national treasure. As long as the stone stands, we will, generation after generation, look back on some of the great leaders that helped shape our great nation. The Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, the Washington Monument and so many other monuments that stand in stone in the Capitol are national treasures. Maybe things like freedom, liberty, and the richness of our land are national treasures. We enjoy these things every day, but so many in the world do not.

Things made of stone that seem to last forever, places that are special to us as a people, and historical buildings are all precious national treasures, but the greatest national treasure in America is our moral standards of conduct and the people who live by those standards. The men and women who work hard every day in keeping with a Biblical work ethic, husbands and wives who stay true to their spouses, police officers and other law enforcement who enforce and carry out the law; these things together make up our greatest national treasure. Firemen, paramedics, and other service personnel who put others first in keeping with the "love others’ moral principle are a part of our greatest national treasure. Service men and women who serve in our military, living out loyalty every day, expressing the Biblical standard of keeping a promise and a pledge are a part of the greatest national treasure of America. Proverbs 11:11 says "Good people bless and build up their city ... " And I believe good people living by moral standards of conduct bless and build up their country.

Stone monuments and buildings where history took place will always be a part of the national treasure of America. We will take our kids and grandkids to these places and rehearse the greatness of our country. But things like service, others first, loyalty, faithfulness to home and family make up our greatest national treasure. We must teach these things to our kids and grandkids so that America will always be the greatest country on the face of the earth

Pastor Lance M. Wager

Maranatha Baptist Church