This week, our forty-fourth president will take the oath of office, just as all past presidents did before him. Have you ever wondered how that oath might have changed over the years?

On the first Inaugural day in 1789, George Washington added – on his own initiative – four little words at the end of the oath. He affirmed, "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States – so help me God." Ever since, nearly every President has also chosen to include those four words as part of the oath.

Washington added something else to the oath. He chose to place his right hand on the Bible. This is another tradition which Presidents have continued throughout history. But Washington didn't just put his hand on a closed Bible. He opened it to chapter twenty-eight in the book of Deuteronomy. This is the section of Scripture that lays out the promised blessings or curses on a nation, according to the people's faithfulness to obey God's word. (We should all read Deuteronomy 28 and considers how it applies to our nation!) Then, Washington kissed the Bible.

By his words and actions, our first president dedicated America's birth to God. This says a great deal about our Christian heritage, as does the Constitution itself.

The Founding Fathers knew that God was the source of blessings; God was incorporated into the very fabric of our Declaration of Independence and Constitution. Accounts of the personal lives of our Founding Fathers, their public statements and letters all indicate that they believed strongly that God was at the center of their plans for this new nation.

The speech given by our first President after he was sworn in illustrates that God mattered to Washington and that God's hand was in the creation of this country. Washington's speech also warned that Americans could not expect God's continued blessings if they chose to rebel against what is right and good. A portion of Washington's address reads:

"It would be peculiarly improper to omit, in this first official act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe and who presides in the councils of nations . . . No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than   the people of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation has been distinguished by some token of providential agency . . . We ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained."

As our nation celebrates this historical Inauguration Day, let us pray that God will give our president wisdom to make good choices and to lead our nation away from rebellion and toward what is right – under the umbrella of God's blessings and protection.