All across this great land of our people celebrated the 4th of July. There were many festivities to commemorate this historic day of the signing of our Declaration of Independence. On that day, a new nation was conceived. The American colonists sought to establish a nation which would uphold certain self-evident truths. The Declaration of Independence states "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 Americans have been pursuing happiness ever since. But are we really free?
Prior to the political changes that came to Eastern Europe, those of us who lived in the free world often thanked the Lord for the freedoms we enjoyed. Perhaps today we thank the Lord for the freedom we enjoy compared to those that are in Muslim countries or a country controlled by a dictator. The testimonies of Christians that come from these regions inspire me as they grow stronger even in the face of persecution and even death. And because of their testimony it leads me to ask if we are really free?
Years ago I read an article by Phillip Hook who traveled in Eastern Europe before the Berlin Wall came down and the borders opened up. I recently found it again in my study and reread what he wrote. He mest some Christ followers and made these observations: "I sat in the midst of some Eastern European young people and was thinking how fortunate I was to be an American and free. As I watched them and learned from them, I realized that they were more free than I. I was seeing freedom as being free to travel, to own, to say; while they had given up the hopes that the world offers materially, and have become free to be God's people. I discovered that in reality they were far freerer than I."
Because of their deeper experience with Christ, those brothers and sisters remind us that the most important freedom we could ever have is spiritual, not political. It is freedom from obsession with sensual pleasures. It is freedom to know Christ. It is freedom to love God and love others in the strength of His Spirit.
We should learn this lesson in our own lives. We Americans have for so long been pursuing happiness and our own selfish desires that we have forgotten what it really means to be free. Paul writes in Galatians 5:13 "You my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather serve one another in love." There is a word here for each of us. In a country that has as much freedom as we have it is a shame that so many are still living their lives in bondage to their own sins and desires. How free are you?
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