Skip to main content

4th of July

Today is the 4th of July and, in America, we are all grateful for our freedom.  Freedom that was not free to get.  Many of our brothers, husbands, fathers, grandfathers, sisters, mothers, and grandmothers have fought to make and keep this nation free.  If they weren’t fighting over seas, they may have been a warrior to get equal rights for all.  Freedom is rarely free.  Many have died to give us this freedom and many have suffered to make our freedom possible. 

Our freedom doesn’t come without expectations either.  We are free to an extent, but not free to go out and kill someone or to just take whatever it is that we want whenever it is that we want it.  We have rules and laws to live by.  We have guidelines to follow and when we do not follow these, there are consequences for our actions. 

God gave us a spirit of freedom.  He gave us the option to choose freely what we do.  He let Adam and Eve choose to eat or not to eat from the tree of knowledge.  Throughout the entire Bible, there are amazing examples of the freedom of choice that God gives us.  He gives us a freedom to choose between right and wrong.  He then spells out WHAT is right and wrong in the 10 commandments (see post on righteousness).  So we have the freedom to choose, and when we choose incorrectly, there are consequences for our actions.  Romans 6:23 says, “for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life”

Back in the Old-Testament days, the wages for sin was death.  There was an expectation if you sinned, you had to make a sacrifice to atone for that sin.  You had to pay the consequences for your sin with the best of what you had to offer whether it was cattle, birds or whatever.  You had to make an offering to become right with God again. 

Fortunately for us, we had someone go and fight our war against sin.  We had someone that went and died FOR us so that we wouldn’t have to.  Just like our soldiers go and protect and fight for us.  Jesus was sent to earth so that we would have freedom also.  He was sent to earth to fight our battle and WIN our battle against sin.  John 8:36 says “ So – if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”  We had someone fight the battle against sin for us, are we going to disrespect that sacrifice and sin? 

Galatians 5:13 “You my brothers, were called to be free.  But do not use  your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather serve one another in love.”   

So today, on the Fourth of July, we should honor those that have fought to make our nation great.  We should honor those that are fighting to make our nation strong, but we should also remember that our CHRISTIAN nation has a hero too.  Jesus is the soldier in our war- He is the rock of our Salvation – the one that we need to remember always also – that he died on the cross for our sins and has won the war on sin in our lives.  Now lets honor Him and live a life for Him like we honor our soldiers. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Center of God's Will

I was very blessed to go over to some new friend’s home last night and talk with them and others about life in general.   As the topic turned solely to missions late in the evening (as this couple used to travel around bringing the good news to kids around the world, and then lived in a different country for 3 years sharing the gospel) I said something like, it must feel amazing to be right in the center of God’s Will.   To have to rely on Him for protection from the most random events; to have to rely on God to take you out of situations that are dangerous; to rely on Him for every provision that you are given; and most importantly, to be brining the message of Christ to all nations under heaven.   Can you imagine?   Knowing that you are supposed to be right where you are, doing what you are doing, right when you are doing it because you have to, and have chosen to, rely on God for every little aspect of your life.   Well friends, I am not out spreading the me...
Post a Comment
Read more

do I mis-use the Bible?

WOW!   This morning I sat and started to read through Ecclesiastes.   I don’t know if the author of Ecclesiastes, Perhaps King Solomon, had a very sarcastic view on life or if he was just babbling.   But I can definitely see how this book could get a lot of people into trouble if they don’t know the full book or continue to read.   There are verses in there that say things like; eat, drink and enjoy the days on earth because they are meaningless, it is good to enjoy your time on earth and do not worry about anything. To get the full meaning of the book, you need to read it all- the true gems are the last two verses.   This book was written by someone (according to my study Bible) that was near the end of his life, he sees man in pursuit of so many things and vainly pursuing hopes and expectations- but faith teaches him that God has ordered all things according to his own purposes and that we need to accept our limitations.   The last two verses are the wr...
3 comments
Read more

Don't throw fits!

Yesterday I blogged about how we need to be like little children.   Jesus loves the little children.   He tells us that if we are not like them, we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.   I HAVE little children and they are amazing, but I have to assume that little children back in the day didn’t throw public fits or kick and scream and want their way.   Proof is actually in the Bible – they didn’t have the media helping their kids learn to curse their parents all the time.   The punishment for going against your father and mother were harsh!   See Leviticus 20:9 “If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death.   He has cursed his father or his mother, and his blood will be on his own head.” God wants us to be like the little children that he writes about in the Bible, not necessarily the kids that we see all the time around us now.   Some are very well behaved, but some just aren’t.   I can only assume that He wants us to foll...
1 comment
Read more