The United States of America is officially 250 years old! Most Americans celebrate and thank God for reaching such a milestone. After all, the history of the world’s nations shows that the United States is a relative newcomer. Take England, for example. When the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776 in Philadelphia, England had already been a country for over 800 years.

The preamble of the Declaration of Independence was drafted by Thomas Jefferson and was later adopted by the Continental Congress. It begins with the famous words: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” It states all people are created equal and credits inherent human rights to the Creator. Our founders grasped the important truth that creation requires the Creator (Genesis 2:7).

In 1787, after the Constitutional Convention, a prominent Philadelphian asked 81-year-old Benjamin Franklin if he and the convention members had put together a republic or a monarchy. Franklin wryly answered, “A republic, if you can keep it.” Franklin’s conditional optimism implies that to keep a republic (Abraham Lincoln’s “government of the people, by the people, for the people”), the population must exhibit moral character, civic responsibility, and continued vigilance. This is done, not through centralized authority like a monarchy, but through popular sovereignty and elected representatives. We must continue to heed Franklin’s subtle warning to last another 250 years and more by actively upholding laws, maintaining public virtue, and exercising our right to vote.

Additionally, the psalmist states, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people He has chosen as His own inheritance” (Psalm 33:12). The Founding Fathers understood that a nation’s security, prosperity, and spiritual well-being are found in its relationship with God—something that the Bible teaches repeatedly. So this must also be faithfully sought after by its citizens to preserve the nation.

At this wonderful 250-year milestone, may we, the people of the United States, seek to be a “nation whose God is the LORD” into the next millennium.

* Dr. Sherwin is a science news writer at the Institute for Creation Research. He earned an M.A. in invertebrate zoology from the University of Northern Colorado and received an honorary doctorate of science from Pensacola Christian College.