In God We Trust lived in Zion.
That’s Zion, Illinois, and it’s not the motto from our currency which lived there. It was an artist formerly known as Steve Kreuscher, who had his name legally changed in June 2008. A judge granted Kreuscher’s request to change his name to: first name – In God; last name – We Trust.
In 2010, Mr. We Trust changed his name again to One Nation (first name) Under God (last name). He said he enjoyed signing his artwork with his new names. For him, it’s a way for him to tell the world of his faith in God.
Most of us express our faith in more subtle ways, but we all express what we believe. From atheist to evangelical, everyone is a believer. Each has faith in something as a foundation for his life. Just as there are no houses suspended in air, so are there no lives resting on nothing.
Everyone believes that his actions will produce something which he desires. Otherwise, he would choose a different action. Each of us believes that the way we live is the best way for us (if for no other reason than it’s the easiest, the least trouble). If we didn’t believe that, we would choose another way.
The question is what we choose for foundation for our faith – and our life. Jesus simplified the choices when he said that every person either “hears these words of mine and puts them into practice” or “does not” (Matthew 7:24, 26).
A young fisherman, seeing Jesus demonstrate power that could only come from God, made a life-changing decision to practice the words of Jesus. It was an expensive choice - one that cost Peter his job, his home, and his place in his former religion.
How did it turn out? Peter, after 35 years of road-testing says that Jesus’ way provides “everything we need for life and godliness,” and “will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive” (2 Peter 1:3, 8). It works!
And it all starts with faith. To that we can add goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. Without faith, there is no place to put the others – nothing to add them to.
The former Kreuscher for a time signed his name “In God We Trust”. More importantly, you and I sign a statement of faith by our lives. What do people see when they read our “signatures”?
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