Freedom

Today, all of America celebrates the great gift of freedom for which countless men and women sacrificed (and are still sacrificing today).

But America didn't invent freedom - God did.

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery" - Galatians 5:1

The natural condition of men and women is to be enslaved.

On the one hand we can be enslaved to bad things - relationships that are unhealthy, addictions, anger, dishonesty, greed, pride, gossip.

On the other hand we can be enslaved to good things that we have made ultimate things - career, possessions, family, health. These are the things we think we can't live without, and if we can't live without them they have us in their clutches.

Christ died to take away our ultimate allegiance to anything other than him. He rose from the dead so that we could be free for all of eternity from the penalty of death. And his victory over death means that we don't have to be enslaved to anything - good or bad - in this world. We are free to love him more than anything else and to accept all other good things as what they are - good gifts, not the meaning of life.

What do you need to be free from today?

Happy Independence Day!