Fireworks, concerts, flags, barbecues, vacations, sales....marks of the "fabulous 4th of July" in America. Below these externals, is the reason why we celebrate: on July 4, 1776, 240 years ago, a group of men representing the 13 colonies declared their independence from the Crown of England, a bold move which paved the way for a revolutionary war and the birth of our country. The risks entailed in this courageous move were many, but the benefits outweighed them and today we enjoy freedoms shared by no other nation, as well as the responsibility to use them wisely. "Be free, yet without using freedom as a pretext for evil, but as slaves of God. (1 Pt 2:16). Freedom, we might think, is an achievement, something for which people fought and won, but it is more precisely a GIFT, God's gift to us. How blessed we are and how obliged we are not to use freedom as license to do whatever we want, but to use it to live God's liberating law of love and to help others who are bound by social or economic injustice or self-imposed pressures to be released from their bondage..
When we sing "God bless America," we are praying for the good of all and expressing our love and gratitude for our country. May we sing it or listen to it at least once today (I highly recommend You Tube...Kate Smith singing it for the first time), and then in our own words express our gratitude and determination to use our freedom wisely.
Bro. Rene
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