Good morning,
The
4th of July used to make me glad, but now it leaves me sad. When I was
a kid I liked the 4th because there was family stuff and lots of good
food. After we got back from living under communism in Ethiopia, I had a
whole different feeling about what the 4th of July was really all
about. The first American settlers were people who had been under the
control of wicked leaders in other countries and they had come to this
new world to get away from all of the unfairness and fear that had been
trying to control their lives for many generations. With God’s help
they were able to break away from these wicked people and begin to live a
life based on the standards of right and wrong that God had given them
as the right way to live. We learned a lot under the communists that
taught us a lot of what that felt like. I will never forget flying into
New York and flying over the Statue of Liberty. I cried with gratitude
for what God had given us in America. I understood more about the real
meaning of freedom because I had to live without it.
I have had
to learn about spiritual freedom the same way. We really are living in a
world that is doing it’s best to force us into living by the rules of
the first rebel against our Creator God. Our sinful nature doesn’t want
freedom, it wants control of our personal world and as much of the
world around us as possible. What the world calls freedom is actually
license, the freedom to do what you want, when you want, no matter what
happens to the people around us. Real freedom is based on God’s love
and our love for those around us. Paul pointed out that when we are
attacking and trying to control one another we are well on our way to
destroying one another. That’s what makes me sad about what I am seeing
all around me today. Love and freedom are words that have come to mean
something very different then what God meant when he gave us his
standards for living life his way. The God who sent his own Son to die
in our place to give us freedom from the control of our sins and the
accuser who enforced that guilt, wants us to serve one another as living
proof of a changed heart and a changed life. Dear Lord, please help us
to learn to live in love and not be taken in by the license and
critical attitude that so dominates our country today.
Galatians 5:13
For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters.
But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use
your freedom to serve one another in love. 14 For the whole law can be
summed up in this one command:“Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But
if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of
destroying one another.
Roy Wisner
