Let Freedom Ring

July 3, 2023

On July 4 we celebrate 226 years as a nation. The United States of America is called the nation of the free. Our Constitution from the beginning guaranteed five freedoms as long as our nation stands. It protects speech, religion, press, assembly, and the right to petition the government. Together, these five freedoms make the people of the United States of America the freest in the world.

I am thankful for all the men and women in our history and right now in 2023 who continually make the commitment to keep us free by sacrificing their convenience and comfort, sometimes even their lives, to guard our freedom.

Though we have many blessings the rest of the world does not have, it is regularly reported that Americans experience more anxiety than the population of most other countries, most of whom have far less than we do to make life easy and convenient. Why is that?

Fear runs rampant throughout our communities. Violence makes us fear for our lives. The economy causes fear that our resources won’t be enough. New diseases and old enemies of our bodies threaten our wellbeing and future. The unknown terrifies us. Fear stalks so many in their waking hours and troubles their nights. Is there any hope?

A little over 2000 years ago Jesus went to war against all the principalities and the darkness of this world and fought to purchase freedom for everyone who puts their full and complete trust in Him. This freedom doesn’t depend on what nation you are from or what country is your current location. Through His sacrificial death and victorious resurrection, “Christ has freed us so that we may enjoy the benefits of freedom” every single day of our lives. As Paul told the Galatians, “Therefore, be firm in this freedom, and don’t become slaves again” (Galatians 5:1 NOG)

I hope you are gathering with family and friends to celebrate the 4th and the freedoms we have, including the freedom we have in Christ. We are free to live, love, serve, and make a difference in our fear-filled world through the power of Jesus. The power that raised Jesus from the dead is alive and working in all who believe.

If you are not free, make this day your day. Why not exercise the grace and power that we have in Christ and begin to walk in that freedom? Life will never be the same again.

Let freedom ring! Celebrate!

A great song by the Gaithers says it this way:

Deep within, the heart has always known that there was freedom

Somehow breathed into the very soul of life

The prisoner, the powerless, the slave have always known it

There's something that keeps reaching for the sky

And even life begins because a baby fights for freedom

And songs we love to sing have freedom's theme

Some have walked through fire and flood to find a place of freedom

And some faced hell itself for freedom's dream

Let freedom ring wherever minds know what it means to be in chains

Let freedom ring wherever hearts know pain

Let freedom echo through the lonely streets where prisons have no key

We can be free and we can sing, let freedom ring

God built freedom into every fiber of creation

And He meant for us to all be free and whole

When my Lord bought freedom with the blood of His redemption

His cross stamped pardon on my very soul

I'll sing it out with every breath, I'll let the whole world hear it

This hallelujah anthem of the free

That iron bars and heavy chains can never hold us captive

The Son has made us free and free indeed

Let freedom ring down through the ages from a hill called Calvary

Let freedom ring wherever hearts know pain

Let freedom echo through the lonely streets where prisons have no key

You can be free and you can sing let freedom ring

Let freedom echo through the lonely streets where prisons have no key

You can be free and you can sing let freedom ring

You can be free and you can sing, let freedom ring, let freedom ring!