As the 4th of July approaches, I find myself contemplating my freedom as an American. I am so blessed to live in this country, where we know so many freedoms. Having been born and raised here, I can’t really even imagine what it must be like to live in a country such as North Korea, Eritrea, Somalia or China. A country where worshipping the one true God could get me imprisoned, tortured or even killed (and that’s if I’d ever even heard the Gospel of Jesus in the first place, which chances are very good I wouldn’t have). I thank God that I live in a country where I have so many freedoms, the greatest of which is the ability to openly worship Him without fear of reprisals.

But as awesome as my freedoms as an American are, they pale by comparison to the freedom I have in Christ. The freedom that only Jesus can offer — freedom from sin and death. And while our independence as a country came at a high price — the lives of nearly a million Americans since the Revolutionary War — our freedom in Christ came at an even higher price: the sacrifice of the Son of God. A perfect and blameless Lamb who loved us so much He went to a cruel and hideous death so that we could be saved.

Our response to our freedom as American’s should be loyalty and allegiance, as well as the pursuit of continued freedom. Our response to our freedom in Christ is somewhat different. Yes, it demands devotion to Him (loyalty and allegiance), but not through the pursuit of continued freedom, but by becoming His willing bondservants. Only when we turn our entire lives over to the King of Kings — when we willingly become His servants — are we truly free. And that freedom is available to us both in America, or in the deepest darkest prison cell in any country in the world.

This country was founded by colonists seeking the freedom to worship Jesus. Our independence was declared by our forefathers based on Christian values: “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”. What better way could we celebrate Independence Day than by telling others about the God on whom this fine nation was founded?

Share the Good News of freedom in Christ with someone this 4th of July!

Bill

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 29th, 2010 at 11:21 am and is filed under Blogs, Children's Ministries. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.