On July 4th we celebrate the birthday of America. We celebrate our freedom from the tyrannical government of England. The cause of freedom was born as a bunch of colonists began looking at how they were governed and saw many things wrong. They saw the concept of taxation without representation as unfair and unethical. Instead of sitting around and complaining about how bad things had become, the early leaders and founding fathers of our country decided to do something about it. The result was a war that saw many colonists lose their lives in defense of a cause that they never saw. Ultimately, however, the result was freedom and the Declaration of Independence declared our intent to be a free and self-governing nation under God.
We are still reaping the rewards of the courageous decision of our founding fathers as well as those who fought for freedom. The issue is that in some instances we take these freedoms for granted and sometimes we forget that people are still losing their lives in defense of freedom. Just as, throughout history, people have died in defense of freedom, someone also died to give us spiritual freedom.
The Bible tells us that the wages of sin is death and while the wages are that, they are also guilt and condemnation and sin that is in our life can make us feel as if we are in a prison that we cannot get out of. While the Bible reminds us of the wages of sin, we are also told of the gift of God which is eternal life in Jesus Christ. In John 8 Jesus is speaking of the issue of knowing the truth of His word and how that truth will set you free. Later in the passage, Jesus speaks of those who engage in sin are slaves of sin. He then talks about how He sets us free and we are free indeed. True spiritual freedom is found through a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ we are free of guilt, of condemnation, and the power of sin has no control over us.
We give thanks for those who have given their lives in defense of freedom and we give thanks for the freedoms that we have as Americans. We must also, and perhaps more importantly, remember that true freedom is found in Christ and freedom is not free as it cost Jesus His very life. May we live for Him as He has died for us.