THE REAL WASHINGTON

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves (James 1:22).

One of the disadvantages of being dead is that those who are living can make any kind of person out of you that they want. Evidence can be bent enough to make the dead person into the image that the historian chooses. So it has been with the life of our first President, George Washington*. There have been historians who contended that Washington was a deist and not a Christian because he did not speak of Christ very often. He did not speak of Christ often, that is true, but when he did it was powerful. Proclaiming the first Thanksgiving holiday, Washington said,

It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor.

In an address to his soldiers he said, To the distinguished character of patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian.

Powerful stuff!! His words represent the thinking of the great majority of our founding fathers!
Washington's personal motto was, Deeds not words. He was a doer who did not spend a lot of time talking. What our deeds say is the real truth about who we are. When Henry Lee, interestingly, the father of Robert E. Lee, gave Washington's funeral oration, he said about him,
First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen. To that we say, AMEN for he was our first and best president.

Remember, Washington's birthday is the 22nd.

Grace&Peace,
Tom


* Much of the information in this devotion I owe to the research of Peter A. Lillback, Ph. D. and the History News Network of George Mason University, 2-12-07.