I love my country.
Founded on the principles of liberty, equality, the rights of man under an eternal, unchanging God.
Today we celebrate our independence from the tyrannical government of 18th century Britain.
We love the word independence.
Free, free at last.
We love to say "it's a free country."
As children we say to our older brother or sister, "You're not the boss of me!"
As teens we say to our parents,"I want to do what I want to do."
As adults we chafe under laws or regulations that prevent us from driving as fast as we want to, or parking where prohibited, or wearing shoes and shirt, or playing our music as loud as we want.
We want independence.
We think of independence as a good thing...always.
Surely, independence from a tyrannical government is a good thing.
And I thank God that brave men and women risked their lives to ensure our freedom.
But is independence always a good thing?
How about our independence from God?
Many morally blind people in our country are celebrating this.
And work through our government to force this independence on the rest of us.
Apart from God, we are, at best, morally feeble.
And always supremely selfish and bent only on our own interests.
It is only when we submit to the Lord and invite Him to fill us with His Spirit that we possess His power to love as He loves, to care and invest ourselves for others, to forgive, to govern ourselves wisely.
It is not a good thing to be independent of God.
Today, as we celebrate our country's independence,
let us also celebrate with even greater joy, our DEPENDENCE on our indescribably wonderful Lord God.
Jesus said:
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:5 NIV Bible)
Founded on the principles of liberty, equality, the rights of man under an eternal, unchanging God.
Today we celebrate our independence from the tyrannical government of 18th century Britain.
We love the word independence.
Free, free at last.
We love to say "it's a free country."
As children we say to our older brother or sister, "You're not the boss of me!"
As teens we say to our parents,"I want to do what I want to do."
As adults we chafe under laws or regulations that prevent us from driving as fast as we want to, or parking where prohibited, or wearing shoes and shirt, or playing our music as loud as we want.
We want independence.
We think of independence as a good thing...always.
Surely, independence from a tyrannical government is a good thing.
And I thank God that brave men and women risked their lives to ensure our freedom.
But is independence always a good thing?
How about our independence from God?
Many morally blind people in our country are celebrating this.
And work through our government to force this independence on the rest of us.
Apart from God, we are, at best, morally feeble.
And always supremely selfish and bent only on our own interests.
It is only when we submit to the Lord and invite Him to fill us with His Spirit that we possess His power to love as He loves, to care and invest ourselves for others, to forgive, to govern ourselves wisely.
It is not a good thing to be independent of God.
Today, as we celebrate our country's independence,
let us also celebrate with even greater joy, our DEPENDENCE on our indescribably wonderful Lord God.
Jesus said:
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:5 NIV Bible)
Love this post, Dena! I pray people will realize how essential true dependence on God is to our freedom as individuals and as a country.
ReplyDeleteSusan, we have both seen in the unspiritual mind, it seems counterintuitive that by submitting to God we have freedom.
ReplyDelete