Independent Reflection

My favorite holiday has come and passed. Independence Day is my absolutely favorite holiday. There's something about it that makes me excited every year to celebrate it.

Maybe it's the fireworks.

Maybe it's the food.

Maybe it's being able to spend time with family and friends.

Maybe it's about the holiday traditions.

Maybe it's a little bit of all of these.



Yet, maybe it's a little bit more.



Even though the Continental Congress voted on American independence on July 2nd, and the Declaration of Independence wasn't signed until August 2nd, July 4th has become the American rallying day to celebrate the freedoms that we as citizens hold most dear. But as we remember from this most important document, our freedoms come from nature and nature's God.

And while a majority of people believe in some type of supernatural being / higher power, the freedoms that have been bestowed to us by that being / power are constantly put to the test. And that is not a bad things.

For us who believe in the Christian understanding of who God is, we believe that He has given us the gift of free will, including the freedom to believe in a God or not. Our understanding is that, if God wanted to, He could in an instant take that free will away and force us to love Him and do His will, since He is the Creator and we are merely His creation. 

But God doesn't work that way.

He wants us to exercise our freedoms. But He wants us to exercise those freedoms responsibly.

He wants us to be independent. But He also desires for us to know our dependence on Him.

Thinking about some of our mythical superheroes, the great lesson we continue to learn from Spider-Man is that, "With great power comes great responsibility." We, even as God's mere creation, have an almost supernatural power when it comes to exercise our freedoms. Yet we know that in exercising those freedoms, it's never anything to be taken lightly. This is why we have such great debates in our nation and in society about what is the "right way" to pursue and exercise our freedoms, our liberty.

And this is a good thing to have and to do, because the seriousness that we bring in discussing and fighting over the issues of our time - whether they be "right" or "wrong" is an exercise in the very freedom given to us by God Himself.

I'm not going to get into moral debates about this or that here. This is to simply express why I'm so very grateful for the celebration of Independence Day. ---- For it is in the recognition of our freedoms and liberties that we can acknowledge that we are created to choose many things.

But those choices come with responsibilities. And we need to accept the consequences for the choices that we make, whether good or bad. Those consequences are naturally embedded into the choices that we make.

I thank God that I have the opportunity to exercise these freedoms, these liberties. I thank God that I have the opportunity to choose Him and His way of life. 

And it's because of these freedoms, liberties and opportunities that I have the responsibility to speak up for all those who lack this freedom.


And though Independence Day is a good day to celebrate all of this, I really don't need a day to celebrate . . . as long as I appreciate the those freedoms and liberties that God gives to me everyday - and the responsibilities and consequences that come along with that.









Enjoy the journey . . .