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Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God (John 3:16), identified both the “horse” and the “cart” in regard to the respective obligations of all mankind:
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second like unto it is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself (Mat. 22:37–39).
Note: The “horse” obligation is love for God. The “cart” obligation is love for one’s fellow man. Jesus specifies that love for God must involve one’s heart, soul, and mind—one’s entire being—necessarily implying reverence and respect for Him and His Word—the Bible. One’s love for others should be measured by the yardstick of love for one’s self.
The “horse” and “cart” order has national implications. The vast majority of our founders unapologetically loved and reverenced the true and living Godhead, revealed both in His creation and in the Bible. They were not ashamed to mention His name or the name of His Son. They prayed without apology. They reverenced God by reverencing the Bible—the unquestioned Word of God. They founded some of the extant great universities (e.g., Harvard) to teach the Bible. This love and respect for God was warp and woof of our founding documents: The Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, and Constitution. These pioneers rightly had the “horse” out front.
Not surprisingly, it pulled the “cart.” Learning from God’s character as revealed in His Word, the “cart” followed that “horse.” Americans became the most generous and benevolent nation in history. They not only took care of their own families, but of others who had needs they could not meet. Such continued for the first 175 years of our great republic—until liberal “theology” and Humanist/Darwinian philosophies began to take control of seats of power in religion, education, and government. God was ushered out of the schools; the Bible began to be mocked by increasing numbers of professors and pulpiteers. Reverence for God went out of style.
More than half a century of such has emboldened the Bible-, God-, and Jesus-haters to pursue their agenda openly. The “religion” of many is now no more than giving some money to “charity,” while living in blatant irreverence toward God. Without minimizing “love of neighbor,” doing so apart from love of God (i.e., obedience to Him [John 14:15]) puts the “cart” before the “horse.” Actually, such behavior leaves the “cart” without a capable and adequate “horse” to pull it.
[Note: This article was written for and published in the Denton Record-Chronicle, Denton, TX, February 6, 2015.]
Attribution: From thescripturecache.com; Dub McClish, owner and administrator.
