Celebrate Your Independence

Good morning! I hope you had a great weekend.

This week in the United States we will be celebrating Independence Day. This holiday commemorates the signing of our Declaration of Independence from the Great Britain. For most Americans this is a very patriotic day filled with cookouts, fireworks and celebrations of freedom.

Today I want to spend a few minutes talking about freedom:

John 8:36 (NLT)
So if the Son sets you free, you will indeed be free.

One of the greatest tragedies in life is living as a prisoner when we don’t need to. In my early days in law enforcement, I remember trying to release a prisoner one night who simply didn’t want to leave. Even though he had been set free by the court, he found the confines of the county jail familiar and was not willing to be released (we had not choice but to set him free, so he went outside and smashed the window of squad car and came right back in).

Sadly many people live their lives just like this man. Jesus went to the cross to pay the penalty for our sin. The record has been cleared and God has declared us innocent. Unfortunately many of us still choose to live as a prisoner to the past.

We allow past sin to haunt us, constantly living in fear of being exposed. At every corner we wonder if anyone knows what lurks in our past. This chain of guilt, shame and doubt hold us captive every day of our life, but is this really necessary?

Let me walk you through this thought. When Jesus went to the cross, the shedding of His blood paid the price for all of our sin. This means that there is nothing that we have ever done, are doing or could ever consider doing that would require Jesus to die on our behalf again. When Jesus said “it is finished,” that is exactly what He meant.

This week as you celebrate Independence Day I want to encourage you to remember that you have been set free from the bondage of the past. Grab hold of the freedom that you have been given and thank God for loving you enough to make it all possible.

Until next Monday, may God’s richest blessings be yours this week.

Carl