DID THEY JUST VOTE GOD OUT?

In disbelief I watched a vote whether or not to reinsert "God" and "Jerusalem" back into one of America's political party's official platform. It was an "aye," "nay" vote. Although the chair tried to hide it, consternation showed on his face when it was evident that the motion hadn't passed. He called for a revote, "aye," "nay." At least via camera audio, it seemed to me that the "nays" were loudest. Unsure, a third time the chair called for the vote. Again, it sounded to me the "nays" carried. I was asking myself, "Did they just vote God out?" At that point the chair gaveled the motion passed. Many were understandably upset. The vote required a two-thirds majority. At best the called out vote would have been 50-50. In reality, many people of the convention desired to vote "God" and "Jerusalem" out of their party's platform even though the party leaders said the vote reinstated the words. Their loud "boos" after the motion had been declared passed evidenced their true intent. God has been voted down, voted out, voted off. I wondered what He must think of that. It reminds me of an evangelist who used to tell of a time when some members called for a church meeting to try to vote him out of the pastorate. He told how, when he began the meeting, he said something like, "This meeting has been called to vote on me as pastor. Before we vote on me as pastor, I wanted to vote on you as members." With that, he began to write members' names on the chalk board with a "yes" or "no" beside their name. What must people have felt voting on God? Of course, people vote on God all the time. They vote him in or out of their lives, in or out of their homes, in or out of their decisions. What if they contemplated how God is voting on us? Are we in or out? God casted His vote for us by the sacrifice of His Son on the cross. If we accept by faith that sacrifice, His vote for us is "yes." If we reject His gift, we vote "no." In voting on God, we are actually voting on ourselves. A vote against God is a vote against one's self.