True Independence

Tonight I am sitting my back deck watching an amazing array of fireworks taking place.  Only one set of fireworks is an "official" display, yet beautiful color is lighting up the night all over the southern sky as individuals hold their own celebrations of Independence Day. Tomorrow is America's 237th birthday and fireworks will again light up the sky tomorrow evening as people everywhere celebrate.

On April16th we were in Israel as the country celebrated it's 65th birthday with parades, concerts, food, fireworks and fun, just as we happened to be there five years ago when the 60th Independence Day was celebrated in much the same way.  Both were joyous celebrations of the miraculous establishment of a nation that did not look like it had a prayer of becoming a reality.

But as I sit here I find myself contemplating the true meaning of the word "freedom".  When I look up the word in various dictionaries I find definitions such as "the power or right to act, think or speak as one wants without hindrance or restraint"; "the absence of necessity or coercion"; "liberation from slavery or the power of another" and so on.  All those and more are good definitions and very important parts of what it means to be free; and so many in the world do not experience that type of freedom.  However, one can be free in that sense and still not be truly free.

The most important freedom is the freedom that does or does not  exist within my heart.  I can have all of the civil liberties in the world and still be a slave of myself, living in fear and desperate unhappiness and dissatisfaction.  Where does true freedom come from then?  In John 8:31 Jesus said "if you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." And in John 8:36 he said "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." Many reject the truth of the Scriptures and the freedom that Jesus bought with the sacrifice of His own life and won with His victory over the grave. However, as one who was once anything but free, this Independence Day I celebrate not only political freedom but a type of freedom that even more important - Freedom of the Heart!  Think about it.