God Keep our Land
By Sara Davison

It is Canada Day as I write this post. As always, I am filled with patriotic pride as I hear the anthem and see the flags being waved. We celebrate this country, and rightly so, as one of the greatest in the world. This year’s celebrations, though, seem to me to be tinged with a new poignancy, a sadness even. That which we have celebrated for 148 years, the freedoms bought with courage and blood and lives, are now slipping through our fingers.



The most precious of these freedoms, religion and free speech, appear to be those most at risk. And as a Christian and a writer, the threat of losing these strikes at the heart not only of what I do but of who I am.

So we must respond. This is not the time for Christians to remain silent. It is absolutely not the time for us to capitulate to, or allow our beliefs to be swayed or determined by, culture, no matter how aggressively that culture tells us it is. We must express, not outrage, but sorrow over the degeneration of our country and compassion for those who embrace that which is contrary to God’s plan and design.

Because, in the end, there is only one question: does what we are doing as a nation or as an individual strengthen or weaken our relationship with God? Canada was established on a belief and trust in God. And we are all created to be in relationship with the one who made us. It is the only thing that truly matters, for this life and the life to come. If we accept this truth, our life principle becomes obvious: if what we do draws us closer to him, we must do it. If it pulls us further from him, we must not do it. And if we see others doing that which pulls them away from God, we must speak up. It is not loving to do otherwise.

It is far easier to compromise. And far more deadly. Easy rarely, if ever, means right. It is easier to seek the blessing of culture. But the blessing of a culture that has lost its moral compass, if it ever had one, is a sign, not that, as Christians, we are doing something right, but that we are doing something desperately wrong.

So it is a time for love, yes, but not love as the world defines it, love as God defines it. A love that has the courage to speak truth, in spite of opposition. It is a time for unity, but not between Christians and the world, between brothers and sisters in Christ who take a firm stand on the side of the Word of God. And it is a time to speak, not with words of disgust or condemnation or hatred, but in a way that brings honour and glory to God. That does not turn others away from him but draws them to him.

Yes, it is a time to celebrate the freedoms we are blessed with in this country. But it is also, now, the time to fight to keep them.

About this Contributor:

Sara Davison has been a finalist for three national writing awards: Best New Canadian Christian Author; Best Column – Single; and Best Novel – Mystery or Suspense. Davison is a member of three different writers’ groups, two of which she helped to found. Her favourite way to spend the days (and nights) is drinking coffee – a running theme throughout her novels – and making stuff up.

Visit Sara’s website: Choose to Press On
Twitter: @sarajdavison
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