I asked a young man (teenager) one time what the Fourth of July means to him. He didn’t hesitate to say, fireworks, hot dogs, hamburgers, watermelons, pool parties, and good times. I asked why we celebrate this holiday, and he couldn’t tell me. He scratched his head and said, “I don’t rightly know”.
Wow that answer amazed me, and I wondered what the school he is attending is teaching about our nation’s history. I told him that Independence Day commemorates the Declaration of Independence, which established the United States of America. It was the beginning of freedom.
He looked at me intently and said, “Mr. Bob what does “commemorates” mean”. I slowly shook my head in disbelief.
Those who hate this country and don’t appreciate the freedoms that they have are like this kid. They are uneducated. They do not know or seem to care what price was paid to obtain freedom. Many have never left this country and seen what oppression is like. In China and North Korea for example, it is against the law to worship God. The government tells its citizens how many kids they can have and what gender they must be, where they will work, what they can say, where they can go, and penalties for not blindly obeying ridiculous laws that are harsh to the extreme, to include being imprisoned in filthy inhumane hell holes, and of course death.
They are essentially slaves of government and ruthless dictators.
So, if you ever wonder why folks risk their lives to come here by the hundreds of thousands in tiny boats, crossing overland through desert following dangerous sociopathic cartel thugs, with the weak dying of heat exhaustion, being raped, having their possessions stolen and so on. it is because they long for a taste of freedom.
Freedom, however, is not free. The price of freedom is the blood of our nation’s finest men and women.
I thank God for allowing me to live in this country even though it has its problems. I suppose we citizens should focus on our similarities instead of our dissimilarities, but we all know that our nation will not. “Us” against “them” is the sad mantra of our nation.
I have been studying Leviticus when God was handing down His commands for how His people should act. He ordained a holiday called Jubilee whereby every 50 years those who had lost their family’s ancestorial land had it returned. There were provisions for how to treat the poor to include slaves in a compassionate caring way. He established rules for the Sabbath where we were to rest and worship every seventh day and even extended it to the land to allow it to rest without farming it on the seventh year.
He wants to be our God and take care of us. If only we His people would obey His commands. Sigh . . . He wants us to be free of sin, but unfortunately just like this country the price of freedom was not free nor was it cheap. Jesus shed His own precious blood in order that we might be free from sin.
The word gift inherently includes the notion of free. When something is given to us, it cannot be called a gift unless it is given to us without compensation of any kind. We can’t pay for it, and we can’t work for it. If we were to do that, it wouldn’t be a gift at all, it would be a payment. Freedom from sin is a gift of God and we should cherish it as the most prized possession that we will ever obtain.
Enjoy this great holiday but remember the price that has been paid to allow our freedom, and please, just find some time today to thank Jesus for this mighty gift of God!
Ephesians 2:7
That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.