Will the Real Savior Please Stand Up?

Is it just me, or does it seem to you that people all over the world (and most definitely in the good ol’ USA) are looking for a “savior?”

Watching bits of the presidential inauguration and subsequent coverage of President O.’s comings and goings impressed me with the huge hopes many folks have for our new Chief Executive. I too have hopes.

But I’m not sure I’m hoping for the same things that many fellow countrymen desire. It appears that the yearning of the masses is for government to magically rescue the floundering economy and provide unlimited refills for their drained bank accounts… at no extra cost! They want to live the American dream and be spared the American nightmare. I guess it’s just human nature to be more interested in the here and now, the me and mine.

The testimony of an Italian citizen comes to mind:

I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all things through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:11-13) Good reminder Paul! Bet you didn’t know those words would be apropos two thousand years after you wrote them, did you?

Paul, a church-persecutor-turned-church planter was a citizen of Rome, an empire ruled by men of great power and influence. He advised his contemporaries to pray for the king and all those in positions of authority (I Timothy 2:1). Yet he also reminded them that “our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 3:20)

It shows my age, but I used to love a TV game show… To Tell the Truth. Three individuals claimed to be the same person. A four-member panel fired questions at them and then cast votes for the person they believed to be “the real ______.” More than once the questioners almost fell off their chairs when they realized they had been duped by an articulate imposter.

So all that being said, today and tomorrow whether the stock market soars or sinks, I will choose to be content. I’ll pray faithfully, asking God to direct the hearts of all the leaders of my country toward righteousness. And I’ll keep hoping for the best for our nation! But when I turn off Fox News, Dateline and Rush Limbaugh… when I throw the Sunday newspaper in the trash and drop the World magazine into the rack of never-to-be-seen-again periodicals… I’ll sit back, grin and wait for the end of the show, already knowing that when the real Savior of the world stands up, He won’t be either Republican or Democrat.