If I were to ask Canadians what was significant about this day (February 15) I would get a lot of puzzled looks. Most, including myself until recently, are unaware that today is National Flag Day. On February 15, 1965, the Red and white maple leaf was raised for the first time as our official flag.
Before this, we really didn’t have a flag to call our own. We flew a version of the British Union Jack with the Canadian coat of arms on it. Unlike the rebellious colonies to the south of us, Canada was the good child. We had our moments, but we never had a revolution to overthrow British rule. In fact we didn’t even have our own constitution until 1982!
Well, that is not totally true. Our road to independence started with the British North America Act of 1867, but it resided in Britain and not in Canada. It was only in 1982 it was officially repatriated to Canada combined with our charter of rights. Obviously as a Canadian national Identity, we were not in a hurry to sever those apron strings to good old Britannia. Queen Elizabeth is still our recognized head of state.
So in 1995 Prime Minister Jean Cretien declared the observance. I guess the rest of the country never got the memo.
It seems the only things that gets Canadians really excited are hockey and beer. Some Canadians get excited over curling, but we don’t want to go there…
This lack of awareness about significant national events, and I don’t want to hear any snickering from our southern neighbors, after all it was also Susan B. Anthony Day, is not confined to just issues of national identity. It is not a very far leap to see the parallels in the spiritual realm as well.
Take a look at some data gathered from Gallup and Barn Group Polls over the last several years.
• Only half of adults interviewed nationwide could name any of the four Gospels of the New Testament.
• Just 37% of those interviewed could name all four Gospels.
• Only 42% of adults were able to name as many as five of the Ten Commandments correctly.
Seven in ten (70%) were able to name the town where Jesus was born, but just 42% could identify him as the person who delivered the Sermon on the Mount.
• 38% of Americans believe the entire Bible was written several decades after Jesus' death and resurrection (While this is true of the New Testament, the entire Old Testament was written hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus Christ).
• 12% of adults believe that Noah's wife was Joan of Arc.
• 49% believe that the Bible teaches that money is the root of all evil. (The love of money is said to be the root of all types of evil).
• 75% believe that the Bible teaches that God helps those who help themselves
• 50% of people who identify themselves as Christians believe that the Bible it totally accurate in the principles, but not the facts that it teaches.
• While 68% of Christians have heard about spiritual gifts, only about 30% can identify the gift they claim to possess.
• Only 21% of Christians indicate they are above average in their knowledge of the Bible, while 25% claim they are below average or have no knowledge of the Bible.
One of the surveys also discovered that while 75% of those asked were interested in increasing their knowledge and understanding of the Bible only about 14% were actually involved in some kind of Bible study.
It seems that many of the people who call themselves Christian also lack an awareness of what it to be a Christian and what a Christian believes and practices. For them the Bible has become nothing more than a sound bite in their busy lives.
This is the reason I write Bible study guides. To bring clarity and understanding in an era where there is so much information it sometimes makes it difficult if not impossible to discern truth from error; a line that is sometimes easy to miss. I don’t write them just to tell people what to believe, but to assist them in discovering those truths for themselves.
Many Christian writers are familiar with God’s command to Habbakuk 2:1-2; I will stand on my watch and set myself on the tower, and will watch to see what He will say to me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. And Jehovah answered me and said, Write the vision, and make it plain on the tablets, that he who reads it may run.
Write the vision. Having a vision has always been important. It is the vision that allows us to take those leaps of faith God asks us to take. It is the vision we have that gives us the desire to share that knowledge with others and inspire them to take their leaps of faith as well.
In writing the vision we are creating the awareness to we can do for God and what He is willing to do for us. It starts with a leap of faith.
