Independence Day
Texas State Highway 130.
There’s no more freeing feeling than driving 85 miles per hour on an open highway. You bypass Austin congestion, tailgaters and big trucks and whenever I make my once a month trek to San Antonio, my eyes are peeled for the 130 exit, north of Georgetown.
While driving this fast gives me a sense of freedom, there are still laws in place for my protection. Any faster, and I might lose control of my vehicle, or not be able to stop if there’s a problem. In a sense, the law also gives me freedom.
Almost 240 years ago, a group of men representing thirteen American British colonies caravanned together and signed the Declaration of Independence, a statement of independence from the British Empire. The colony leaders believed they were being denied life, liberty and property by the Brits, and they wanted to break free. This didn’t mean there wouldn’t be laws established to govern the new United States of America, but there would be freedom from the oppression the colonists felt.
At least half of those who penned the Declaration of Independence also lived under a different kind of freedom, the freedom that comes from faith in God. Thomas Jefferson, the 3rd U.S. President, and one of the signers said, “God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the Gift of God?”
Jefferson’s words are still applicable today.
Patrick Henry, who later ratified the U.S. Constitution said, “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists but by Christians; not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
The United States of America was founded on freedom that comes through a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. We are not exempt from obeying moral laws, but there’s a freedom that emerges when we travel with Jesus.
What did God’s son say about freedom?
“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32).
The Greek word for “free” in this passage is “debaah.” It also translates as “strength.”
How odd.
By being bound to Jesus’ teaching, we are free from other things that bind us, and we have more strength. What an oxymoron!
But I think I get it. By having a daily relationship with Christ, we have the strength to stand up against sin. We have the strength to overcome our moral weaknesses. He gives us the strength to walk through the hard times in life.
And when we do all this, there is freedom.
Freedom from regret.
Freedom from guilt.
Freedom from worry.
The late evangelical preacher, Ray Steadman, said this about Christ’s freedom: “What a wonderful word! It constitutes a short course in discipleship. But it is more than that. It is a declaration that discipleship is the only true path to freedom, to being all that you were meant to be.”
Do you want to be all you were meant to be?
Do you desire to be free from a past that still haunts you?
Do you want to have divine company on your personal highway?
Then read God’s word. Meditate on Jesus’ truths. If you don’t already know him personally, ask him to save you from your sins, and invite him to come into your life.
As the founding fathers also found life and liberty through their faith, today can be your Independence Day as well.