The Freedoms That We Celebrate

John 8:36

So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

We gather on Independence Day to celebrate with fervor and joy our freedom from Great Britain and our establishment as a sovereign nation.  We celebrate to recognize Our Creator who endowed us with the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  We celebrate with gratitude what America has become – a shining light on the hill - the most creative, productive and richest nation in the history of mankind.  And finally, we celebrate to let every other nation in the world (and every internal ideological group) know that we are not interested in and will not tolerate any other system of belief that they might wish to impose upon us.  

We can draw parallels in our own personal freedom in Christ.  When we accepted Jesus as Our Savior, we were overcome by joy as we declared our separation from a sin nature that condemned us.  With great fervor, we celebrated our rights as heirs to the kingdom of heaven.  We took our places as lamp stands on the hill, providing light to the world around us.  And finally, we proclaimed victory over Satan and every evil that he tries to impose upon us.

Even though the United States of America has been the standard for freedom around the world for over 200 years, as citizens of the United States, we are only partially free.  We only have the freedom extended to us in the land in which we live today.   But as those who are made free by Christ the Son of God, we are not free in part only, but are wholly free and have a right to all the privileges of the kingdom of God here on earth and in heaven.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for endowing us with the unalienable freedoms of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  We thank You for providing Your Son, Jesus, so that we may be endowed with eternal rights to the fullness of life in Your kingdom.  On this Independence Day, Father, we pray for our nation.  We ask, Father, for You to bring us leaders who will stand for our beliefs.  We pray that You bring us leaders who will uphold Our Constitution - the ingenious plan that was designed to make it impossible for any person or group to establish a despotic rule over our people or our nation.  Lord, we pray that the United States of America will remain for all future generations a beacon of liberty, an upholder of our God-given unalienable rights and a guardian of our independence.  May we personally proclaim freedom from life in the flesh as we live in the fullness of our lives in Christ.  We ask all these things in the name of the King of Kings, Jesus Christ, in whose kingdom we reside.