Freedom

Freedom…

It is an interesting time to live in the United States of America. I cannot imagine that I am alone when I wonder if we will never be at peace with one another or unified in any way. It amazes me that so many cannot see just how free, safe and advanced we are as a nation. The causes of the social justice warriors and the rioters and looters is unclear to many. To me it is clearly evil. It is clear that these Americans know not what an amazing nation we have been blessed to be a part of. They know not the freedom that they enjoy. They know not the opportunities they have to rise up out of wherever they are to unbelievable successes and prosper beyond any people in human history.

Knowledge…

I think what confuses me the most is that we have the internet so readily available and those who are yelling the loudest will not take the time to look and see just how great we are. They refuse to see the troubles that we have gone through in order to get our nation to a place where people of all colors, creeds, religions or preferences are able to succeed and live freely. So many do not understand how the rest of the world lives and how there are so many slaves in the world today. The human trafficking is rampant here, but overseas it is barely addressed. Religions are not just oppressed, people are murdered for their beliefs.

First hand knowledge…

Like many of my friends, I joined the military as a very young man. I was able to travel and see just how behind the rest of the world is. They do not enjoy the freedoms that we have. They do not have the unity that we have as a nation. Having tasted the bitterness of combat on foreign soil, I love the feeling of returning to my home. Even if my first stop is nowhere near my actual home, America feels like home. So many of my fellow Americans do not know real sacrifice and will never know that feeling of coming home to the greatest country in the history of the world.

Payment…

Although many of my friends and I have seen combat up close, I cannot imagine the sting of civil war. 618,222 Americans perished fighting a war that would change the landscape in the US like no other war in history. Neighbor against neighbor and brother against brother, our nation felt so strongly about doing what was right for the downtrodden that we were willing to spill a tremendous amount of blood for what is right. And yet, somehow, we forgot. And when I think of the combat I have seen and its sting, I pray to never have to take up arms against my own countrymen. They do not know how horrible it will be. Why do so many seem to want it?

Slavery…

You see, this is still about slavery. Not slavery of a certain group of people. It is about slavery of the soul. Your social justice movements and special interests will never satisfy you. You will never be satisfied with any success in your movement. You will continue to wrestle with your own position in life because your soul is craving the truth. And that truth lies only in the freedom that exists in Jesus Christ. Jesus tells us in John, “The truth shall set you free.” (John 8:32) This is a freedom that allows us to come together in the unity of God that cannot be wrestled out by human means. “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36) There just is no other liberation that can begin to heal the wounds we still carry as a nation. Those who are still fighting for some type of freedom are slaves of their own sin and can only be set free by the Blessed Redeemer.

Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Freedom.” When we allow the Holy Spirit to live in us, it frees us from the chains of social justice and allows us to focus on true unity, only found in Christ. “Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.” (1 Peter 3:8)

Today my prayer is that we, as believers, stop looking at our countrymen who are lost as a threat and start looking at them as an opportunity to share Jesus Christ. This is how we come together as…. One Nation Under God!

Happy Birthday America!