In Your Freedom

as the 4th rolls around this year, i can't help but think of what it means for america and the freedom this great country can stand on. paralleling that, i peer into my own life and compare myself to many others i know and even those i don't know who do not posses the same freedom i do. whether it be someone across the world in a war-torn country or someone sitting next to me at the coffee shop, i am reminded this week of all those who are not standing free in Christ.

paul wrote to believers in rome about the freedom Christ offers. "i consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. the creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. for the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God."

romans 8:18-21. with all the suffering and pain in this life, as followers, we can be optimistic because of the hope for future glory we hold to. we know the Word tells us that we have a new heaven and new earth to look forward to because God has promised this. think of all those who are enduring pain across the world and don't know this hope.

one person in my life comes to mind especially when thinking about freedom in Christ Jesus. although this person is a nonbeliever, i believe in joining God in the renewal of all things... i know that my Father is reconciling creation to Himself. i have hope that by my co-laboring with the Holy Spirit, this person might one day be reconciled to the cross. call it hope, call it faith, but i honestly feel that this individual will get to share in the wonders of this promise.

as we watch the fireworks this year and remember what those before us have given up so that you and i can be free here in america, let's remember the One who makes us free.... the One who died at Golgotha so that we could experience this kind of freedom. "it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." galations 5:1