Freedom

Originally published July 2, 2011

This holiday weekend has me thinking about what it means to be free.  Many are already celebrating the freedoms we have in our country.  I am so thankful for our ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’, but there is more to TRUE freedom than our constitution.  There are other chains that bind.  Other situations that hold us down.  For Shelby, I want freedom from seizures and disabilities.  For my husband and my sister, I pray for freedom from stress.  Freedom from emotional pain would top the list for so many of my friends and family.  All those things would make this life easier, but the only true freedom comes through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  In Him, I have freedom from enslavement to sin.  I have freedom from guilt and shame.  I have freedom from eternal punishment.  I have forgiveness of sins.  THAT is the freedom I am most thankful for this 4th of July.  And praise God I live in a country where I can walk openly in that freedom.  Thank you to the men and women of the armed forces who have helped make that possible.  And let freedom ring!

“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.”  Romans 8:1-2