This week we celebrate our Independence as a nation. We recognize our forefathers who declared that all men are created equal and have God given freedoms. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness . . . We therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name and by the Authority of the good people of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States . . .” This country was founded by men and women who were willing to sacrifice and die to secure liberty for their family’s future. Recognizing those God ordained freedoms, have allowed us to grow as a nation and have given us the impetus to become the greatest nation the world has ever seen.

We know, also, from history that great nations have collapsed from within. Our original founding fathers knew the necessity of a moral foundation for a free country. “The moral principles and precepts contained in the Scriptures ought to form the basis of all our civil Constitutions and laws. All the evils and miseries which men suffer from vice, crime, injustice, oppression, slavery and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible.” (Noah Webster) As we have digressed from the Bible-based morals, we see a continual slide in morality, justice and freedoms in our nation. “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.” (Proverbs 14:34)

Someone has said, “Without reverence for the Lord, and a healthy moral compass that can come only from God, we’ll continue to lose the liberty we have enjoyed as a nation.”

Just as sin enslaves a nation it also enslaves individuals. Sin enslaves us by producing compelling desires making anything look more desirable than Christ Jesus. These compelling desires that keep us from faith in Christ Jesus eventually damn us.

Jesus alone can free us from the domination and damnation of sin. He frees us from the damnation of sin by becoming a damnation for us. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.” (Galatians 3:13)

There is a yearning in the human spirit that desires freedom. Bondage and slavery are not what God intended for us. The apostle John records the words of Christ Jesus, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life . . .” Jesus said to a group of believers in Him, “You will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free.”

Prayer: Lord, cleanse me from every sin that hinders my relationship with You and with others. Thank you for the freedoms we have as a nation, and the freedom I have in Christ Jesus.